Paul Lawrie has unveiled his plans for a brand new, open access, developmental Scottish circuit. The Tartan Pro Tour is preparing to launch, with the first tournament set to take place in the first week of August.
The Scottish-based tour will comprise a series of six events to be played at some of the most prominent venues across the country throughout August and September.
"This period has been the strangest any of us have ever faced in our lifetimes and as professional sportspeople we are chomping at the bit to get back competing," said Lawrie. "The Tartan Pro Tour has come about partly because Covid has obliterated our normal schedules.
"For the players on the smaller circuits, there's little or nothing to set their sights on, sadly. And whilst there seem to be several smaller tours popping-up around the M25 corridor, it's a long way for pros from north of the border to go without accommodation options and all the other considerations around air travel and so on."
The Tartan Pro Tour events will be played over 36 holes across two days at some of the best courses in the country. Each is open to both male and female professionals, with maximum field sizes of 72.
The tour will provide an exciting platform for players at various stages of their careers, who normally compete at different levels, to come together to play for prize money, whilst preparing them for whatever lies ahead in the rest of 2020 and beyond. With Challenge Tour invitations also on the table for the highest-placed on the Order of Merit and further incentives to be announced, it promises to be an action-packed series.
"I want to personally thank everyone at Farmfoods, Gym Rental Company, Blue Group, Cloudcube, Paul Lawrie Golf Centre and The R&A who are, collectively, our Official Tour Partners," added Lawrie.
"A huge thanks also goes to the venues who have come on board to support Scottish golf professionals. They have all been so accommodating and helpful with making the dates work. The quality of these courses is incredible and it will be a real pleasure for us to get competitive golf at each of them."
The tour gets underway from August 5-6 at the scene of Lawrie's Open victory, Carnoustie, where all health and safety precautions and measures will be taken to ensure the safety of the players and everyone involved, as with every Tartan Pro Tour event.
Only one more event is scheduled for August, that being the Paul Lawrie Golf Centre Scottish Par-3 Championship presented by Farmfoods, which will take place at PLGC Devenick Course on August 8-9. The other events are: Royal Dornoch Masters presented by Gym Rental Company (Sept 7-8); The Pollok Open presented by Blue Group (Sept 10-11); St Andrews Classic presented by Cloudcube (Sept 15-16); and the Rowallan Castle Championship (Sept 23-24).
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