Golf: Hickory to dock into East Lothian

Published on Thursday 2 July 2009 10:09

EAST LOTHIAN is to stage a feast of hickory golf later in the year, including the first professional tournament at Old Musselburgh Links for more than 100 years.

The event, which tees off the 2009 World Hickory Festival, takes place on 20 September and will carry a prize fund of 10,000.

"It will be the first time the 'Old Links' has hosted a professional tournament since Harry Vardon won the Open Championship there in 1906," said Lionel Freedman, chairman of the World Hickory Open.

"The new tournament has been created to help promote the 'Old Links,' recognised officially as the world's oldest continuous playing surface and it will be sponsored by Homecoming Scotland and East Lothian Council."

The event will also feature amateurs and the top 20 pros and amateurs will qualify for a Ryder Cup-style match between Scotland and the Rest of the World the following day.

Dean Robertson, a former European Tour winner, has agreed to captain the Scottish side while Mike Stevens, one of America's top hickory players, will be his opposite number. Following that match, the action will then move on to Craigielaw on 22 September, the day it stages a medal competition, before the principal event of the week, the World Hickory Open, takes place over Gullane No.2.

And, for the first time, it will be a 36-hole tournament due to how successful it has been since its launch three years ago.

The first round, on 24 September, will take the form of a pro-am, with the professionals carrying their score forward to the following day, when the amateurs will play in a separate event of their own.

The prize fund for the World Hickory Open has been increased to 12,500 and organisers are hoping to attract the strongest field yet.

"The tournament has been enjoyed enormously by the people who have played in it and this year we will have competitors from Sweden, America, Germany, France and, of course, the UK," said Freedman.

Lloyd Saltman was the inaugural winner, being succeeded by his younger brother, Zack, before Carnoustie's Lindsay Mann claimed the crown last year.

While not connected with the World Hickory Festival, Royal Musselburgh is staging its own event, the Scottish Hickory Open, on 29-30 August.