FESTIVAL OF GOLF CONTINUES IN SCOTLAND

NEWS RELEASE

The festival of golf in Scotland this summer continues in a weeks’ time at the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open presented by EventScotland at Archerfield Links, East Lothian, from Friday 30 August – Sunday 1 September.

The free to attend event follows hot on the heels of a hugely successful run of professional tournaments in Scotland, including the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open at Castle Stuart, The 142^nd Open Championship at Muirfield, Women’s British Open at St Andrews and Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles.

With the player field set to feature leading names from the world of women’s golf including 2012 champion Carly Booth, 2011 champion Catriona Matthew, 2008 champion Gwladys Nocera, Lee-Anne Pace, Trish Johnson and Holly Clyburn, the three-day tournament is likely to be another closely run event. A record number of eight Scots will be in the field.

The unique pro-am format will see 70 amateurs tee it up alongside a limited field of 70 professionals on Friday 30 August, with the cut being made to 15 amateurs and 50 pros after the second day’s play.

Celebrity amateur contenders this year include ex-international rugby player Gavin Hastings and ex-international footballer Alan Hansen.

Fresh off the back of a T11^th place finish at the Women’s British Open, Solheim Cup team member Catriona Matthew said:  

“I am looking forward to playing the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open next week. My goal this year is to win the tournament title back – I’ve had a pretty good year so far and have played well in the Majors, and have managed to move up to no.8 in the world rankings, so I’m feeling happy and confident.

“I love playing this tournament at Archerfield as I don’t get to play in Scotland very often so it’s a thrill to be able to do so in my national Open. It is a special event for me as I get to play every day and still stay at home with my family, and the home crowd support is fantastic.

“I was very pleased for Carly to win the title last year, as it kick-started what turned out to be a great year for her. I’m hoping that it could be a battle of the Scots again this year!”

Current tournament champion, Carly Booth, said: “To win the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open last year was unbelievable; it was my maiden victory on Tour and for it to be at home in Scotland, with my family there, I couldn’t have asked for a better week to win. It was special.

“It gave me a huge boost in confidence to know that I can win on Tour, so it gave me the attitude and the confidence to go on and win again not long later. It was great, it helped me in so many ways, I had a rough first two years on Tour, my golf was never far away but mentally I was putting pressure on myself to perform which meant there was a lack of good results. 

"Winning the Scottish after winning the LET access event leading up to the tournament really helped me change my outlook and the way I was thinking about everything. Instead of thinking about making cuts, I was thinking about winning.

“I am very excited to be returning and I think I will have a lot more expectation than last year, so it will be a little bit different for me going in as a defending champion to when I had never won before, but it should be good and it should be a nice feeling so I am looking forward to it. I want to retain my title, that’s my only goal really. This year so far has been a tough year and I know that I just have to be patient and stay calm so hopefully I can play well at Archerfield next week.”

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