Sunday, May 19, 2019


 
  • Paul Lawrie 20th Anniversary Pro Am
  • Carnoustie Championship Course – Monday 29th July 2019
  • 21 teams @ £3,000 per team
  • All proceeds raised – 50% go to The Beatson and 50% to The Paul Lawrie Foundation
  • Main sponsors Glenmuir / Sunderland of Scotland
  • Dinner in Carnoustie Hotel on the evening of the event and a Q and A session with Paul
 
PGA Professional Alan Tait who is involved in organising the event said,  
“The idea came from Brian Donald, who is a friend of Paul’s and has been a long supporter of The Beatson, Brian himself losing his first wife to cancer. Brian approached Paul and Michael MacDougall from Paul’s foundation over a year ago, to see if there was an event which could be organised to celebrate the 20th anniversary of Paul’s famous Open win over the Carnoustie Links in 1999. Given Paul’s coach at that time of winning The Open was the late former European Tour player Adam Hunter, it seemed fitting that some proceeds would go towards The Beatson, where Adam tragically was cared for before he died at the young age of 48.  
It was an easy conversation to do something, and it was decided a celebratory pro am back at Carnoustie would be a wonderful way to enjoy a fantastic golf day, with The Beatson benefitting and also Paul’s foundation. Along with Brian and a few others including myself, a fantastic little pro am committee was formed and I was personally delighted to be asked to get involved. Things have moved very fast and we are all very excited to be involved in such an event. Tait added, “for me, Paul’s win at Carnoustie was absolutely sensational and one of the most memorable in my lifetime. I remember almost hiding behind the couch when all the drama was going on, it was absolutely box office! I maintain to this day, the 67 that Paul shot on that final round is one of the greatest rounds of golf in the history of the game. To come from 10 behind in the last round of a major, to then win in a play off in front of your home passionate Scottish support was really Roy of the Rovers stuff. I actually played the course the following day in a media event, off the same tees to the same pins as the final day, and the course was bordering on impossible. I was on the European Tour 2 years earlier and I lost count of my score by the 15th!! I was trying on every shot, but by that point I’d lost 4 or 5 balls and I would not have broken 90”, Tait laughed.
 
Tait went on to say, “knowing Paul as I do, I think it will be an incredibly emotionally day for him, but one he will enjoy and cherish for the rest of his life. The Pros competing are made up of some Tartan Tour regulars and old friends of Paul’s such as David Thomson who is the Director of Golf at the exclusive Skibo Castle in the highlands. David actually mentored and coached Paul back in the early days. We are hoping that maybe a couple of Paul’s famous senior “tour” pals will be able to make it along, however the Seniors British Open comes to a close 24 hours earlier at Royal Lytham, so might be a wee bit of a challenge. The main man himself and his 2 sons are also taking part, which is pretty special in itself. All the amateur competitors will receive an identical blue shirt and sweater that Paul wore on that final day in 1999. The day will be filmed by the fantastic wefilmgolf and there are lots of goodies up for grabs during the day, including fourballs at some of the best courses in Scotland. Whatever happens, there will be plenty of glasses raised on the 29th July this year at Carnoustie”!
The event is now almost a sell-out but there are still a couple of team places left to fill. To be part of this unique and special day, contact susan.brodie@beatsoncancercharity.org 
 
 
 
 


 
Alan Tait
Area Manager for Scotland, Ireland and North-East England | Fellow PGA Member
07388 948 978 | tmnorth@59club.com | www.59club

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home

Copyright © Colin Farquharson

If you can't find what you are looking for.... please check the Archive List or search this site with Google