Aberdeen Standard Investments chief executive Martin Gilbert says lower crowd figures could jeopardise the prospect of the Scottish Open returning to the north of Scotland.
During this week’s event at Gullane, it was confirmed the tournament, along with the Ladies Scottish Open, will return to East Lothian next year when they are staged at nearby Renaissance.
The tournament was last held in the north of Scotland when Castle Stuart hosted it in 2016, while it was also held at Royal Aberdeen two years previously to that.
With an attendance of just 41,809 in Inverness last time around however, Gilbert said: “We’d love to go up north again but against that you lose a bit in crowds – maybe 20,000 down between Gullane and Inverness? You lose players too.”
Gilbert says Cruden Bay in Aberdeenshire was considered as a possible venue for 2019, however Gilbert insists there are a paucity available courses to choose from.
He said: “We looked at ones around Aberdeen. Royal Aberdeen was interesting and although Justin Rose won the players found it just a bit too tricky, but here at Gullane they love. We looked at Cruden Bay but the infrastructure was difficult there.
“There are surprisingly few venues. We have spent a lot of time debating where we want to go. This area, in East Lothian, is great. We get great crowds. But to find courses prepared to do the two events is hard.
“Hosting both the men’s and women’s event really stopped a lot of courses putting themselves forward. To rule yourself out for three weeks or so is a big commitment.
“Gullane made it clear they loved doing this but they don’t want to do it two years on the trot – the committee would all be fired. If we could find venues it would have helped.”
