Composite course at Gullane planned for 2015 Scottish Open
Gullane Golf Club in East Lothian will play host to the 2015 Scottish Open, the European Tour has confirmed. This will be the first time in the club’s 132 year history that it has been the venue for a major professional event, though it has hosted final qualifying for the Open Championship on five occasions.
A composite routing incorporating fifteen holes from Course No. 1 and three from Course No. 2, playing in excess of 7,200 yards, planned for the event. Club secretary Stephen Anthony said: “At Gullane, we have over 1,000 acres of land and the opportunity to create a layout specifically suited to the demands of the modern game and the requirements of a 21st century championship.” A club source told GCA: “The club and the European Tour have discussed various options, but the final layout is still to be confirmed.”
The planned composite routing will omit Course No. 1’s opening hole, instead starting on the second. Golf tourism consultant Allan Minto, who helped introduce the club and the European Tour, told GCA that omitting the first would enable the construction of grandstands around the final green, which would otherwise be too close to the nearby road.
Gullane captain Robert Dick said: “The club has a history that stretches back to 1882 but golf has been a part of Gullane for well over 350 years. Golf is at Gullane’s core, the village is surrounded by courses and the club’s children’s course, which is free for any youngster to play, runs through its very centre.”
The European Tour also confirmed that the 2016 Scottish Open will return to Castle Stuart outside Inverness. The Tom Doak-designed Renaissance Club, only a few miles from Gullane, has long been rumoured to be a likely Scottish Open venue, but a number of sources have suggested that the club’s exclusive private nature was regarded as a negative by tournament backers, including the Scottish government and sponsors Aberdeen Asset Management.