'IMPROVEMENTS HAVE MADE NAIRN DUNBAR A GREAT COURSE'

Scottish boys' open stroke-play championship

returns to Nairn Dunbar

NEWS RELEASE
Preparations for Scotland ’s most prestigious tournament for aspiring Rory Mcllroys are nearing completion at Nairn Dunbar Golf Club. The coveted Scottish Boys Open Strokeplay Championship, which has been won by the likes of Stephen Gallacher and Lloyd Saltman, will return to the famed Highland course in July.
The premier event has attracted 144 golfers from around Europe eager to sample the rippling links and tight fairways of this beautiful course which overlooks the Moray Firth . As Jim Gibson, secretary of Nairn Dunbar, explained, the course has introduced a number of important changes since it last hosted the event in 1999.
“It will be a good test for some of the best young players and Rory Mcllroys of the future,” noted Gibson. “The course has seen a number of changes since we last staged the Scottish Boys Open. The developments are part of an ongoing programme of improvements that have taken Nairn Dunbar from being a good course to a great course.”
The changes include the introduction of several new fairway bunkers, which have seen their first full year of play, and improved putting surfaces made possible by new greenkeeping equipment that helps improve the roll of the ball on the putting surfaces.
“Both members and visitors have been raving about the greens,” says Gibson. “The new piece of kit, called a Greens Iron, gives the greens extra pace and improved roll. We like to make them as quick as we can.”
With over a hundred years of golfing history, Nairn Dunbar Golf Club has long been recognised for its clever and challenging design. As a result, it has played host to a number of high-profile tournaments such as the Scottish Boys Championship.
It’s a point not missed by Euan Mordaunt, the SGU’s events manager. “We are really looking forward to staging the Scottish Boys Stroke Play Championship at Nairn Dunbar,” he said. “The championship has a great history with many former champions going onto great success in the game. This will be the second time Nairn Dunbar has hosted the event following Barry Hume’s victory back in 1999 [and] it has attracted a strong line-up, with players from France, Italy, Germany and Finland joining the best young Scottish players to test themselves on the great challenge presented by the course.”
The Scottish Boys Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship will take place between the 19 July and 21 July 2011.