The £2.4 million Barclays Scottish Open looks set to have an all-star cast at Loch Lomond this summer with seven Major Championship winners, and past and present Ryder Cup Captains and team members from both sides of the Atlantic confirmed to compete in the event from July 7-10.
Major winners, Ernie Els, Retief Goosen, Paul Lawrie, Tom Lehman, Sandy Lyle, José Maria Olazábal and Ian Woosnam have all confirmed their place in the line up.
England’’s Luke Donald, who is currently ranked 12th in the Official World Golf Ranking, and fellow countrymen David Howell and Ian Poulter will also be playing at Loch Lomond next month and will be joined by their European Ryder Cup Team colleagues Thomas Björn, Darren Clarke, Miguel Angel Jimenez, Thomas Levet, Paul McGinley, Colin Montgomerie, Sam Torrance and Lee Westwood.
Australia’’s Peter Lonard, South Africa’’s Tim Clark and Argentina’’s Angel Cabrera, add to the list of players ranked in the top 40 of the Official World Golf Ranking who have confirmed their participation in The Barclays Scottish Open.
Donald, who will be competing at Loch Lomond for the first time said: “I am very excited to be participating in The 2005 Barclays Scottish Open. I have heard great things about the tournament and the golf course and I am looking forward to playing in front of the wonderful Scottish crowds. It promises to be a thoroughly enjoyable week."
Former Ryder Cup Captain, Torrance, said: “It is always a joy for me to return to Scotland to play and I am really looking forward to participating in this year’’s Barclays Scottish Open. It is a great tournament and I am thrilled to be in the field. The golf course is fantastic and the Scottish crowds are second to none. I can’’t wait to be back at Loch Lomond in July.”
Also this week, Barclays, Loch Lomond Golf Club and The European Tour launched a new website for the event. It can be found at www.barclaysscottishopen.co.uk and offers a variety of features including:
a) Online ticket purchasing
b) Hospitality and sponsorship opportunities
c) Visitor information including details of accommodation and travel
d) Volunteer opportunities
e) Details of all the activities and amenities in the Loch Lomond tented village
f) Facts and figures on past winners and the course
g) Player entry updates
h) Newsroom section with current and archived press releases
i) A real time scoreboard will be also be available on the site during tournament time
Visitors to the site who enter their contact details will be entered into a draw to win tickets to the event.
Tim Peat, Head of Global Marketing at Barclays Capital said: “Barclays is focused on making the Barclays Scottish Open the best event it can be - for media, spectators, players and the community. We hope that the website, with all of its extra features, will help us to meet this goal.”
Peter Adams, Championship Director for The Barclays Scottish Open, said: “We are delighted with the new website and hope that golf enthusiasts and visitors to the event will find it useful. The online booking facility is already proving popular and we expect to see an increase in advance ticket sales as a result of this.”
Spectators can take advantage of special discounts by booking tickets for this year’’s event on line at www.barclaysscottishopen.co.uk In line with the policy embraced by The European Tour, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and The Golf Foundation, of making the game more accessible to the younger generation, The Barclays Scottish Open is also pleased to offer free entry to accompanied juniors under the age of 16.
Full details of all daily admission and season ticket prices are available on the website www.barclaysscottishopen.co.uk or by calling the Ticket Hotline on 0141 887 2992 or by sending an email to: tournament@barclaysscottishopen.co.uk
