CASTLE STUART VENUE WILL HAVE SPIN-OFF FOR HIGHLANDS

FROM THE PGA E-BULLETIN

With Castle Stuart near Inverness confirmed as the new home of the Barclays Scottish Open in a multi-year deal, one of the leading professionals in the Highlands, insists the wider benefits will be felt for a significant period.

Tartan Tour stalwart Murray Urquhart, pictured by Cal Carson Golf Agency, the Inverness pro who competed on the European circuit in 2003, is now the PGA pro at the Macdonald Spey Valley course in Aviemore and is relishing the prospect of a summer festival of golf in the north.

The Scottish Hydro Challenge, one of the leading events on the second-tier Challenge Tour, will take place at Spey Valley for a third year in late June, just a fortnight before some of the world’s top players compete for a chunk of the £3 million

purse in the Castle Stuart showpiece on the Moray Firth.

Urquhart, the winner of the Northern Open in 2007, has already witnessed th benefits a major professional tournament can have on the next generation of golfers, having hosted over 100 local juniors

through the national clubgolf programme  at last year’s Scottish Challenge.

“The Challenge Tour event is massive for us,” said Urquhart, who played in the 2002 Scottish Open at its previous home of Loch Lomond.

“The kids are getting involved and seeing the emerging talent on the Challenge Tour but for them to see household names at the Scottish Open will be huge for junior golf here.

“World-class golf on our doorstep has never happened before. We talk of a

lasting legacy and the Scottish Open can provide that. I can see nothing but

positives.”