Golf: Top players to face windy conditions at Castle Stuart

Winds gusting to up to 25mph were being forecast for the opening day at Castle Stuart, the Inverness course that has taken over from Loch Lomond as the venue for the 3m event.

As a result, tournament officials decided to keep the green speeds down today as some of the world's top players commenced battle for the first time on the banks of the Moray Firth.

Those surfaces were wet following some heavy rain during the pre-event pro-am, but tournament director Mike Stewart reckoned that hadn't done the course any harm.

"It has taken a bit of fire out of the course and that's not a bad thing as it was becoming a bit bouncy," he reported this morning.

"It will help scoring, but, at the same time, the conditions today are expected to be the toughest of the week due to the wind gusting to up to 25mph."

Stewart, who was born and bred in Inverness before leaving the area to join the European Tour, had moved one tee slightly forward for the opening day. The tee at the par-3 fourth will be up 20 yards or so," he added.

Castle Stuart general manager Stuart McColm claimed the course had passed its first big test with flying colours.

"We were a bit nervous when we saw heavy rain was forecast for yesterday so we put an Armageddon plan in place at the weekend," he said.

"We were definitely tested a bit yesterday, but neither the course or the car parking areas have churned up, which is great."

Of the wind, which was blowing from the an east/south easterly direction, McColm added: "This will test them and it will be intriguing to see what the scores are like."

Former Masters champion Phil Mickelson led a chorus of praise for the course in the build up to the event.

And, at last night's pro-am dinner, he encouraged European Tour chief George O'Grady to do everything he could to try and get it on the rota for a World Golf Championship event.