Scotland Round-up: Solheim Cup club search
Clubs in Scotland are being invited to submit interest in staging the Solheim Cup in 2019.
With the success of Scotland’s events in 2014, including the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles and the Junior Ryder Cup at Blairgowrie, VisitScotland are keen to build on the momentum an continue to enhance Scotland’s reputation as the Home of Golf.
If Scotland went through the bidding process and was the successful candidate, it would be the third time the country has hosted the biennial competition after contests at Dalmahoy in 1992 and Loch Lomond in 2000.
The host venue should be able to provide an 18-hole championship course, a venue with capacity for 30,000 spectators and transportation access and be no further than 90 minutes from an international airport.
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Life-saving equipment installed at Brechin
Brechin has purchased an automatic emergency defibrillator to provide better protection for members.
‘We are now much better-placed to react to an emergency’ The AED will ensure access to the life-saving equipment in the event of staff or one of the club’s 700 members suffering a heart attack.
The defibrillator was funded by donations from the club’s senior and ladies section and Angus Cardiac Group.
Club manager Stephen Rennie said: “We decided the remote location of the course, the average age of our membership and the fact we now have a gym meant it was very important to install a defibrillator.
“We are now much better-placed to react to an emergency. We have worked closely with the local ambulance service to get training, familiarise us with the product and prepare us for an emergency situation.”
Members rally to save Castle Park
Golfers were left “heartbroken” when the course they loved was forced to close, so they decided to buy it instead.
Castle Park near Gifford shut its doors in January and was expected to be turned over to farmers.
However, the club reopened under the ownership of a consortium of five local owners, who finalised a deal to buy the course.
Gifford Community Council chairman Craig McLachlan said the group was determined to invest in the club and improve its facilities, including the construction of a new clubhouse.
Speaking to the Scotsman, he said: “I don’t think it’s stretching it to say that some members were actually heartbroken when it closed. It was one of those courses where the people who loved it, really loved it.
“Everyone thought it was done and dusted. In eight months, hopefully it’s going to be growing and blossoming.
“Golf is not a business that is going to make you a millionaire, but it’s more than the sum of what the acreage is worth. For us as a family, we believe in it passionately.”
Malcolm Duck, director of East Lothian’s Scotland’s Golf Coast marketing campaign, said the reopening of the course was “fantastic” news for the community.
Castle Park opened in 1994 and takes its name from the historic ruins of Yester Castle, which overlooks the 14th green.
Newton Stewart has ‘turned a corner’
A Galloway club is investing in its future after a successful 2014.
Newton Stewart had allocated funds for new course machinery, while the clubhouse has had an interior makeover, according to the Galloway Gazette.
The club has also begun a development programme for young people and with the assistance of Clubgolf Scotland, following a primary school winter programme of lessons for youngsters.
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