CARRBRIDGE NINE-HOLE OPEN TARGETS SCOTTISH OPEN SPECTATORS FOR BENEFIT OF JUNIORS

  Level 1 coaches George Dyer and Irene Blease with Carrbridge ClubGolfers this week

Highland golf club Carrbridge’s very existence is so dependent on visiting trade that, when nearby Castle Stuart Golf Club was announced as the venue for the 2011 Scottish Open, it immediately saw the opportunity to attract more visitors.

Its plan was to organise a 9 hole Open for the Tuesday of the Championship, and its inaugural year proved a success with 60 golfers playing in the competition.

This year the club, situated seven miles from Aviemore in one of the most scenic parts of Scotland, is becoming more ambitious with organisers setting a target of 150 participants.

The recent addition of a sponsor, the nearby Tomatin Distillery, brings credibility and a hefty prize fund which the club hopes will prove attractive to golfers.

“We were delighted with the event in its first year and as the word got round our sponsor has come on board which is superb,” said the club’s junior convenor, George Dyer.

The benefits of staging this competition are far more than a short term cash injection. Many of the proceeds from the Open will be ploughed back into junior development.

Indeed so focussed is Carrbridge on junior development as the key to its long term survival that back in 2004, it was one of the first clubs to come on board with the national junior golf programme, ClubGolf.

The club has since built up a loyal and enthusiastic band of qualified coaches but it lacks the support of a full time professional. This is the missing piece that many of the funds raised will be directed towards.

“Our main concern is to make sure we have a good number of kids there in the first place and that's what all our efforts are going into,” continued Mr Dyer.

“We already bring an assistant Pro down from Inverness for the last four weeks of our ClubGolf programme to take the more advanced juniors for intensive sessions.

“But it costs money which the club just doesn’t have. So if our 9 hole Open is a success again this year then proceeds will be channelled into the junior section to get assistant pros down more often to help children.”

Spectators heading to this summer’s Scottish Open should take their clubs with them and consider playing in the Tomatin Distillery Scottish Nine Hole Open at Carrbridge on Tuesday 10 July 2012.

Golfers can enter the Tomatin Distillery Scottish Nine Hole Open by contacting Carrbridge Golf Club on: Tel: 01479 841314

Rob Eyton-Jones

ClubGolf Media Manager

t: 07775 746981

e: rob@eyton-jones.co.uk

Official clubgolf website: www.clubgolfscotland.com