OPTICAL EXPRESS PGA TOUR SET FOR ROUSING START TOMORROW

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE PGA IN SCOTLAND
One of the strongest fields to assemble for a domestic event for many years will be teeing up as the Scottish Professional golf season gets underway tomorrow (Wednesday), with the 54 hole Optical Express PGA Tour tournament at Ayrshire’s Dundonald Links.
With the exception of PGA Scottish Champion Alan Lockhart, who is due to get married next week, all of the leading Tartan Tour regulars will be present, together with an impressive list of Professionals who have joined the Optical Express Tour.
European Tour players Steven O’Hara and Craig Lee have entered, as have Chris Doak, Andrew McArthur, Jack Doherty, Eric Ramsay and Callum Macauley, who have a blank week on the Challenge Tour schedule. Andrew Oldcorn, whose European Seniors Tour season does not begin until next month, is also in the field.
Stephen Gray, the 2011 Scottish PGA Order of Merit winner heads the list of Tartan Tour regulars who will be competing, whilst players of the quality of Greig Hutcheon, David Patrick, Paul McKechnie, Scott Henderson and Gareth Wright will relish the opportunity to test themselves against those who ply their trade on the international circuit.
Other noteable names in the draw are Wallace Booth, returning after a long spell on the sidelines through injury, Kris Nicol and Ross Kellett, both of whom turned Professional over the winter, and former Challenge Tour player, Keir McNicoll, who has now joined the PGA training programme and is working at Gullane Golf Club.
As one of the aims of the Tour is to provide an opportunity for young Scots, who have yet to establish themselves on a European stage, to play in high quality Professional events without having to travel across Europe to do so, then the field for this first tournament shows every indication that this will be achieved.