OPTICAL EXPRESS TOUR SUCCESS CONTINUES AT DUDDINGSTON TOMORROW

NEWS RELEASE FROM PGA IN SCOTLAND

Duddingston Golf Club in Edinburgh will host the fourth “Optical Express PGA Tour” event of 2012, tomorrow and Wednesday this week (June 26 and 27).

With a field of over 100 players, the Duddingston tournament has attracted the highest number of entries so far in this series, and again there is a mixture of Challenge, EuroPro and Tartan Tour players in the draw.

Former Ryder Cup star Ronan Rafferty is amongst those who are due to tee up, and he is paired in the first round with Russell Weir, who has returned to playing in domestic tournaments this season after spending many years on the European Seniors Tour.

West Linton’s Gareth Wright, winner at Dundonald, and David Patrick (Elie), who triumphed in the Tain/Brora tournament, are both competing, as are seven Tartan Tour regulars who played in the Scottish Hydro Challenge at Spey Valley last week.

Included amongst those is Scott Henderson (Kings Links), who recently won three times on the Tartan Tour in a 10- day stretch.

Michael MacDougall secretary of the PGA in Scotland commented “I’m delighted to see such a large number of entries. As a more traditional “inland” type of course, Duddingston will provide a different test for the players to the ones that they have faced in the three previous events, and it’ll be interesting to see who emerges as the winner this time around.”

David Moulsdale, Chairman and Chief Executive of Optical Express Group, noted, "We hope the players show the same exceptional form at Duddingston as they've done in the first three Optical Express PGA Tour 2012 events. This is all about our, and the PGA's, desire to see the next generation of Scotland's elite golfers flourish and take their rightful place on the global golfing stage."

Speaking on behalf of Duddingston Golf Club, Secretary Duncan Ireland added “The Optical Express PGA Tour provides a tremendous platform for Scottish golfers to show their talents, and Duddingston Golf Club is proud to be associated with it. We believe we have an excellent course here, and the fact that there has been such a large entry is testament to that.”

Details of the draw for round one can be found on:

http://pgagbi.bluegolf.com/bluegolf/pgagbi12/event/pgagbi12546/index.htm