Tourism Minister, Fergus Ewing, has written to Mid-Scotland and Fife MSP Murdo Fraser detailing the Government’s efforts to promote the 2015 Open Championship in St Andrews.
Whilst welcoming the programme of events designed to attract tourists to the Fife area Murdo has cautioned that news of the BBC’s failure to broadcast the Open Championship from 2017 onwards could damage the sport in Scotland.
Commenting Scottish Conservative Spokesman for Tourism Murdo Fraser MSP said;
“The Open Championship is one of the world’s biggest sporting events and we are lucky that the tournament comes home to St Andrews every five years. Nonetheless, it is important that those marketing the tournament don’t get complacent and work hard to ensure it reaches as many people as possible.
“News this week that the competition will not be aired on terrestrial from 2017 onwards has rocked the golfing public and there are real concerns over what this move will do to the grassroots game in Scotland.
“The Scottish Government must outline not only their plans for encouraging visitors to Fife for this year’s championship but also the one after that and how they plan to boost golf participation numbers across the rest of the country.”