Paul Lawrie Match Play switched to Archerfield Links
Friday 26 February 2016 18:37, UK
Paul Lawrie's Match Play event has lost its title sponsor and been moved from Murcar Links in Aberdeen to Archerfield Links near North Berwick.
The 64-man knockout event, which will be held from August 4-7 this year, proved popular with the players last year, although only 11,000 spectators took advantage of adult tickets being priced at £15 and children under 18 being admitted free of charge and also receiving a baseball cap.
Speaking about the attendance figures at the time, Lawrie said: "'I wouldn't have said 'disappointed', but we thought there would be more come. Why there weren't more, I don't know.
"I personally don't think it's expensive to come along and watch European Tour golfers for a whole day's golf, so it can't be the price.
"I certainly don't want to go down the road of complaining because that's just the wrong way of going about it. The feedback has been great from the spectators and it would have been nice to see a few more."
Saltire Energy sponsored the inaugural event in 2015 - in which Thailand's Kiradech Aphibarnrat beat Sweden's Robert Karlsson in the final - but it is thought the decision not to continue its involvement is linked to a downturn in the Scottish oil industry.
A spokesperson for the European Tour said: "While confirming that Saltire Energy will not sponsor the Paul Lawrie Match Play this year, we can also confirm our attention is now firmly focused on working with promoter 4sports & Entertainment to ensure the success of the 2016 tournament at our wonderful new venue at Archerfield."
The CEO of 4sports & Entertainment, Dominik Senn, whose company are both the promoter of the tournament and Lawrie's management group, said: "We are very much looking forward to staging year two of the Match Play at Archerfield Links, who, along with East Lothian Council, have presented an attractive proposition for staging the event given the nature of the club and the wide business reach of the location.
"We are all excited to work closely with Tom Younger and his team at Archerfield who we know will do a fantastic job in hosting the event.
"I'd like to make it clear however that any decision to change venue is in no way a reflection on Murcar Links Golf Club as we have nothing but praise for the course, the members, and the entire team at Murcar who helped in delivering a fantastic first event in 2015. We maintain that we could return to Murcar with every confidence in the future."
