The Scottish Government minister for culture, tourism and external affairs will today address a pioneering international summit for golf course designers being held in Inverness.
Fiona Hyslop will stress that the government will do “all it can” to help grow the golf sector.
Dozens of the most influential figures in the sport have descended on the region for Design Masters: The Scottish International Golf Course Architects Conference.
The conference, at the Kingsmills Hotel, will discuss ways to rekindle the golden age of Scottish golf course design from the early 1900s, to make the sport more appealing.
Industry experts will cover areas including historic and modern design techniques, sustainable approaches to course architecture, soil management and playability of courses.
It will be chaired by golf writer and historian Adam Lawrence, founder and editor of Golf Course Architecture magazine.
During the four-day conference, delegates will visit a number of historic courses in the Highlands including Royal Dornoch, Brora Golf Club and Castle Stuart.
Today, via videolink to the conference, Ms Hyslop is expected to say: “I am pleased to have the opportunity to speak to this conference, which explicitly recognises the place of golf within the 2017 Year of History, Heritage and Archaeology. This event celebrates Scotland’s historic environment and past – and illustrates how Scotland continues to influence the global golf industry.
“The Scottish Government will continue to do all it can to help grow the golf sector. As well as the leisure tourism aspect, we also see a modern, forward looking golf industry, which not only welcomes 220,000 golf tourists every year but also recognises the value added to Scotland’s economy through providing golfing supplies and expertise to the domestic and global market.”
Following her speech, international golf course consultant, Gordon Irvine, will talk about his role in the restoration of the lost Askernish golf course in South Uist, an old Tom Morris design which was abandoned in 1920.
Stuart McColm, Castle Stuart manager, will speak this afternoon about the importance of focusing on creating playable golf courses to ensure the fun of the game is not lost.
Among tomorrow’s key speakers will be Thad Layton, senior golf course architect at the Arnold Palmer Design Company, as well as acclaimed Australian course architect Bob Harrison, who has created a new course on the Ardfin Estate on Jura.
The event has been organised by the Golf Tourism Development Group.