The chance to watch top professional golfers and A-list celebrities compete against each other, very reasonably-priced golf tournaments on superb Carnoustie Country golf courses and a return to the style and splendour of the game a century or so ago all feature in the just-published programme for the inaugural Carnoustie Country Festival of Golf.
The Carnoustie Country Festival of Golf (www.carnoustiecountry.com/festival2013) runs from 28 September until 6 October, 2013 and tees off with the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship. The Dunhill is one of the world’s most prestigious pro-am tournaments and is being held over three of Scotland’s top links courses, including Carnoustie Championship. Free entry is available to spectators at the Dunhill, which regular celebrity competitor and American rock icon Huey Lewis recently described as ‘The amateur equivalent of the Open Championship’. “Wonderful courses, great format and expertly organised,” said Huey. “It’s my favourite tournament.”
For those who prefer playing in golf tournaments to watching others compete, there’s a range of golf competitions throughout the Carnoustie Country Festival of Golf. On Sunday, 29 September, the Rosemount course at Blairgowrie, home of the 2014 Junior Ryder Cup, will host a Fourball Betterball Open Stableford for gents, ladies or mixed teams. Entries cost £40 per team of two and the first prize is two tickets for any day at the 2014 Ryder Cup.
On the same day, Monifieth Medal is hosting a Two Ball Betterball Open (£25 per team of two), while Scotscraig is holding a Texas Scramble on its historic Open qualifier course (£100 per team of four, including a one-course meal). Wednesday, 2 October is the date of the Carnoustie Country Ladies Open Tri-Am, which will be played across Panmure Golf Course. This tournament costs only £45 per team of three, which includes a buffet – perfect for a girls’ golfing day out!
The return of the World Hickory Open to Carnoustie Country will provide a highly visual reminder of golf as it was played in days gone by, with competitors using hickory-shafted golf clubs and wearing golfing attire from the period. The tournament, which is at Montrose Medal and includes a warm-up round at Monifieth Medal, has attracted competitors from across the world. To celebrate the World Hickory Open’s international field, a ‘Ryder-Cup-style’ hickory match will take place on Thursday, October 3 at Arbroath Links, when a team from the USA will play a team from The Rest Of The World.
“As well as being a showcase of highly-competitive hickory golf, this match will be quite a spectacle,” said Lionel Freedman, founder of the World Hickory Open and presenter of one of the talks taking place during the Carnoustie Country Festival of Golf, ‘Hickory Golf In The Modern Age - And Its Future’. This free talk takes place at 6.30pm on Monday, 30 September at Panmure Golf Club and booking is strongly advised.
To celebrate the launch of the programme for the Carnoustie Country Festival of Golf, and highlight the Junior Ryder Cup being held in Carnoustie Country in 2014, Junior Ryder Cup Captain Stuart Wilson and two highly-promising Blairgowrie juniors demonstrated their golfing skills at Rosemount Golf course.
“The Junior Ryder Cup coming to Rosemount is another feather in Carnoustie Country’s cap,” said Stuart, who is also Managing Secretary at Forfar Golf Club. “Not only will this tournament boost junior golf throughout the local area, it will also highlight the excellence of the 30 courses within a 40-minute drive of Carnoustie Championship, including Rosemount. The Carnoustie Country Golf Festival marks the start of 12 months of the golf courses in and around this part of Scotland being in the full beam of the global media spotlight.”
For more information about the Carnoustie Country Festival of Golf, including booking information and updates to the programme, visit www.carnoustiecountry.com/festival2013. To be kept up to date with Carnoustie Country events and happenings, ‘like’ the Carnoustie Country Facebook page or follow Carnoustie Country on Twitter.
Photo caption: Stuart Wilson, Junior Ryder Cup 2014 Captain (centre), with Blairgowrie juniors Iain McLaren (15) and Brad Bannerman (16). Credit: Photo courtesy of www.carnoustiecountry.com.
