Fans To Return To Women's Scottish Open As Scotland Set For Summer 'Festival Of Golf'

Fans are set to return to the Trust Women's Scottish Open for the first time in three years as golf continues to recover from the Covid-19 pandemic.

As part of a blockbuster summer of golf in Scotland, this event - which takes place at the newly revamped Dundonald Links from July 28-31 - will see 144 of the world's best female golfers pit their wits against the unique challenges presented by one of Scotland's leading links courses.

And rather than the spectator-less and noiseless backdrops of 2020 and 2021 at Renaissance Club and Dumbarnie Links respectively, players will battle it out for top honours in front of a passionate crowd on the West Coast of Scotland.

It had already been announced that Trust Golf had extended their title sponsorship of the Women's Scottish Open for a further four years and increased the purse by 33 per cent to $2 million, so this is a further shot in the arm to the tournament that returns to Ayrshire venue for the first time since 2017.

Speaking at Dundonald, which has recently been boosted by a £25m investment from Darwin Escapes, Trust Golf founder Dr Prin Singhanart said: "We are very happy to be announcing that we will be able to welcome spectators to enjoy the event as we look to enhance and grow this historic event to sit alongside the best tournaments on the schedule. 

"We recently announced an increase in the prize fund to $2 million and we will continue to look to raise the bar in this area as we aim to grow the game and create the best opportunities for female golfers."

The Thai-based technology enterprise took over as title sponsor in 2021 in a bid to help grow the women’s game and develop the next generation of golfers. As part of that, Catriona Matthew, Scotland’s most successful female golfer, was announced as the new tournament ambassador.

She said: "I am delighted to able to take on this ambassador role for what has been one of my favourite events to play throughout my career. I am so impressed by all the enhancements that Dundonald Links have implemented as well as by the plans Trust Golf, Visit Scotland and IMG have for the future and I am very excited that I will be a part of it."

The Women's Scottish Open sits in the middle of what has been dubbed a 'Festival of Golf' in Scotland this summer and precedes the Women's Open, which will be held at Muirfield for the first time in its history.

The men's Scottish Open returns to Renaissance Club for the fourth consecutive year, while the 150th playing of The Open takes place at the Old Course in St Andrews.

Paul Bush, Director of Events at VisitScotland, added: “We have a fantastic summer of world-class golf ahead of us in Scotland, with five weeks of some of the best events of the year taking place on our shores through July and August. 

"The 2020 Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open marked our first event back after Covid stopped play earlier that year and welcoming back spectators at this year’s tournament is yet another important landmark in Scotland’s continued recovery from the pandemic.

"As recent data showed, female golf participation in Scotland is on the up and this is an event that we will continue to focus on with the goal of inspiring our next generation of golfers."

Tickets for the 2022 Trust Golf Women's Scottish Open will go on sale on May 3.