Scottish Open heading to Dundonald in 2017

Rickie Fowler won the Scottish Open last year at Gullane. Picture: Jim Watson/AFP/Getty Images

Confirmation that the Aberdeen Asset Management Scottish Open is heading to a new venue next year as part of its journey around the country is imminent.

The Scotsman understands that Dundonald Links, between Irvine and Troon, will be announced as the 2017 host course for the event before the end of this month.

It will be the first time the tournament is staged in the west of Scotland since ending its stint at Loch Lomond in 2010, when Italian Edoardo Molinari won.

Since then, it has visited Castle Stuart near Inverness, where it returns this summer for a fourth time in six years, Royal Aberdeen and Gullane, where it was won last year by Rickie Fowler.

The decision to take the event to Dundonald Links rekindles the connection with Loch Lomond as the Ayrshire venue is its sister course. Designed by Kyle Phillips, Dundonald Links was bought by Loch Lomond 13 years ago and has since hosted numerous tournaments, notably the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open last year. Haggs Castle, where David Feherty beat Christy O’Connor Jnr and England’s Peter Baker in a play-off to claim victory in 1986, is the only other course in the west to have staged a Scottish Open.