£200,000 Challenge Tour event at Aviemore starts ball rolling

Scotland leads the way for tournaments in 2010

FROM THE SCOTTISH DAILY EXPRESS
By JOCK MacVICAR
Scotland is bucking the trend at a time of severe financial constraint by promoting even more tournaments this year.
Scottish Hydro and Macdonald Hotels, together with EventScotland, yesterday announced they are backing the Scottish Challenge tournament for this year and beyond.
Over the two years, more than £1million in cash and payment in kind is going into the Scottish Hydro Challenge which will again be played at the stunning Macdonald Spey Valley course in Aviemore.
The announcement completes an enormously impressive portfolio of golf tournaments north of the border this year.
The season swings into action with the Scottish Hydro Challenge at Aviemore from June 10 to 13, followed by the Barclays Scottish Open at Loch Lomond, The Open at St Andrews, the Senior Open at Carnoustie, the Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, the Ladies Scottish Open at Archerfield, the Scottish Seniors Open at Fairmont St Andrews and the Dunhill Links Championship at St Andrews, Carnoustie and Kingsbarns.
Throw into the mix Colin Montgomerie's eagerly-awaited Ryder Cup team announcement immediately after the final round of the "Johnnie Walker " and, without doubt, Scotland has regained its position at the forefront of the game in terms of hosting events.
Only a few years ago, leading up to the 2006 Ryder Cup at the K Club, Ireland was being held up as an example for Scotland to follow.
This season, Ireland has no Challenge Tour or Senior Tour event. Its only tournament is the Irish Open.
England has no Challenge Tour event either, with the BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth its only main Tour event.
Robbie Clyde, EventScotland's project director for the 2014 Ryder Cup, is convinced Scotland will go on to cement its place as a leading tournament venue.
He said: "This is a long-term investment. When we sat down with Ryder Cup Europe, we actually suggested what we believed should be all our obligations.
"We are committed to investment in golf tournaments betyond 2014. Golf is one of those things that the rest of the world would love to have a bit of. Scotland has it but we can't be complacement. We have to keep our game ahead of the opposition.
"Only last month it was estimated that golf is worth £220million to the Scottish economy and although club membership is falling, the pay-and-play sector is booming in some quarters."
Tour official Mark Aspland admits one of the problems south of the border is that England does not have a body like EventScotland, which has invested £150,000 in the Spey Valley tournament.
It does not have a body like Iain Stoddart's Bounce Sports Management either, which acts as the Challenge Tour's commercial partner in Scotland. Prize money at Spey Valley in June will be £200,000 with £32,000 going to the winner.
Jamie McLeary became the first Scot to take the title last year when he beat Italy's Edoardo Molinari by two shots in a field that also included past Ryder Cup player Peter Baker and 1999 Open champion Paul Lawrie.
The calibre of Challenge Tour events can be measured by the fact that Molinari later won the World Cup in China with his brother Francesco, and Richie Ramsay, fourth as an amateur in 2006 at Murcar Links, is now the South African Open champion.
Clyde added: "Richie is a good example of what this tournament can do for youn players."