East Lothian venue set to stage its first European Tour event this summer
The Paul Lawrie Matchplay is back – but this year it’s at a new venue. The contest will be played at Archerfield Links on the Fidra Links course. It is the first time the event has hosted a top-tier European Tour event.
The event continues to be part of the 2016 European Tour schedule, and the 64-man knock out match play format will remain the same. The date of the tournament, from August 4-7, will also stay unchanged as will the €1million prize fund.
The CEO of 4sports & Entertainment, DominikSenn, whose company are both the promoter of the tournament and also Lawrie’s management group, said the East Lothian venue had put forward an “attractive proposition” to stage the event but added that a return to Murcar Links, last year’s hosts, was not being ruled out in the future. “We are all excited to work closely with Tom Younger and his team at Archerfield who we know will do a fantastic job in hosting the event,” said Senn.
“I’d like to make it clear, however, that any decision to change venue is in no way a reflection on Murcar Links Golf Club as we have nothing but praise for the course, the members, and the entire team at Murcar who helped in delivering a fantastic first event in 2015. We maintain that we could return to Murcar with every confidence in the future.”
He added: “4SPORTS are the promoter of two tournaments on The European Tour and we know well the challenges to make these events commercially viable. We have an initial three year commitment to the European Tour for the Match Play (2015-2017), so it was never in question that the event will take place this year.
“Paul deserves a lot of credit for having the vision to launch his own European Tour event and we are fortunate to be working with such a fine ambassador who continues to give so much back to the sport and now also to the tour he has competed on for so many years.”
Lawrie, 47, who has worked tirelessly to promote and support golf in Scotland, particularly in his native North East, said he was looked forward to heading to Archerfield Links.
“Archerfield will be a great venue for the tournament this year and Fidra Links is a brilliant course with a unique blend of pine forest and links golf. Murcar did a fantastic job at hosting our first event last year and the door remains firmly open for taking the event back there in the future.”
4SPORTS also confirmed that the pricing structure for tickets to the event will remain as previously stated and any tickets that had already been purchased via The European Tour’s website will still be valid at Archerfield. A new website for the event will also be live in the coming days
Read the latest issue of UK Club Golfer online
