Paul Lawrie Launches New Tartan Tour to Help Struggling Pros

Former Open champion Paul Lawrie has announced the launch of a new professional golf tour in Scotland to give more opportunities to developing golfers.

The Tartan Pro Tour will comprise six events played on high-quality Scottish golf courses through August and September this year and is intended to help professional players who are struggling following many of the smaller professional tours, most notably the EuroPro Tour, cancelling their seasons because of coronavirus.  

“This period has been the strangest any of us have ever faced in our lifetimes and as professional sportspeople we are champing at the bit to get back competing,” said 51-year-old Lawrie. “The Tartan Pro Tour has come about partly because Covid has obliterated our normal schedules.

“All of the pros I’ve had contact with throughout these past twelve weeks have no certainty that they’ll get a chance to play again this season at all. I’ve been so impressed by the efforts of the European Tour to get the UK Swing of events to the stage it’s at but for so many Pros the remainder of the year looks unclear.

“For the players on the smaller circuits there’s little or nothing to set their sights on, sadly. 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,” he added.

The events, which will be held at such top courses as Royal Dornoch and St Andrews, will be 36 holes strokeplay and, with a full field of 72 players, will have £18,000 purses as a minimum. First prizes will be between £3,500 and £4,000 as all entries will go directly to the pot.

Both male and female professional golfers are able to enter the events, kicking off with the Carnoustie Challenge, the site of Lawrie’s famous Open triumph over Jean Van De Velde, on 5-6 August, while the final competition, the Rowallan Castle Championship, will take place on 23-24 September.

The other courses hosting The Tartan Tour are St Andrews, Royal Dornoch, Lawrie’s home course in Aberdeen and Pollok.

The Tartan Tour is supported by Farmfoods, Gym Rental Company, Blue Group and Cloudcube, who also sponsor Lawrie, as well as the R&A and the host venues.

More information will soon be published on The Tartan Tour’s website (currently under construction). Entries will open from 13 July.