Golf Vacations UK – Scottish Open, Ballybunion Changes and Royal County Down 3rd in the World

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Castle Stuart - venue for the 2012 Scottish Open Championship

Eddie Gilbertson, Director Golf Vacations UK
'International vistor numbers to Scotland for golf specific tours appears to be down for 2012, which is borne out by the availability of tee times at St Andrews Old Course at this stage of the season'

St Andrews (PRWEB) June 19, 2012

The Scottish Open will take place at Castle Stuart Golf Links the week before the Open Championship. The tournament was won last year by Luke Donald after play was hampered by extreme weather and a mini landslide. Improvements have been made to the drainage of the course to alleviate any repeat of the unfortunate events of 2011.

Barclays Capital ceased their sponsorship of the event, which is one of the richer golf tournaments on the European Tour and the 2012 event will now be sponsored by Aberdeen Asset Management. Last years Open Championship winner Louis Ooosthuizen has recently entered his name in the event.

The Scottish Open is currently played at Castle Stuart Golf Links in Inverness in the North of Scotland. The tournament traditionally takes place the week before The Open Championship and has, prior to 2011, been held at Loch Lomond and Gleneagles.

Golf Tourism in Scotland is certainly not as busy for 2012 as it has been in previous years and it will be interesting to see how well attended the Scottish Open will be.

Eddie Gilbertson, Director Golf Vacations UK said 'International vistor numbers to Scotland for golf specific tours appears to be down for 2012, which is borne out by the availability of tee times at St Andrews Old Course at this stage of the season when in previous years tee times have sold out very quickly’

Ballybunion Old Links in South West Ireland have made certain modifications and enhancements to the golf course including work on greens, tees, bunkers and some fairways. The club are not making any changes to the routing and ambience of the course but merely tweaking it in places to make the improvements for their visiting golfers

Royal County Down Golf Club is in the town of Newcastle which is around a 45 minute drive south of Belfast in Northern Ireland. The course has recently been listed number 3 in the world behind Pine Valley (1st) and Cypress Point (2nd).

There has been prevalent discussion over the years as to which of the 2 famous courses in Northern Ireland is the best; Royal County Down or Royal Portrush and it should be said that golfers will make their own decisions, probably based on how well they play on that particular course on the day. Royal Portrush is listed at number 14, which is an admirable position. It is also the venue for the Irish Open Championship; however the arguments for and against each venue will undoubtedly raise their heads for years to come.

For additional information on the news that is the subject of this release or to learn more regarding tee times at St Andrews Old Course, contact Eddie Gilbertson or Graeme Gilbertson on 1-888-209-4094 or +44 (0)1228 598089 or visit the web site at http://www.golfvacationsuk.com

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