Issued: 3 August 2011
Women’s Open Boost For Carnoustie Country
Angus Council’s tourism spokesperson councillor David May said the RICOH Women’s British Open at Carnoustie had been another boost for Carnoustie Country golf.
Around 30,300 spectators attended the championship, which was played at Carnoustie for the first time.
“The Women’s Open was another fantastic event at Carnoustie – the town was buzzing and the thousands of spectators got to see some great golf on world class links,” said councillor May. “The women’s event is now an established international tournament that attracts a huge amount of global media coverage, which was great news for Angus this year.”
Carnoustie Country Ambassador Catriona Matthews certainly enjoyed her time in Carnoustie, she said: “The crowd were fantastic … they were cheering away and gave me a great reception coming up the last. Carnoustie is one of the best links courses there is and I think everyone enjoyed their week here.”
Councillor May said the economic benefit for Angus of hosting major tournaments went far beyond the events themselves.
“Just as the Senior’s Open did last year the benefit is not just about what happens during a championship itself but what it does to promote this area as a golf destination to the thousands of spectators who either come along or watch it on TV,” said councillor May.
“We promoted Carnoustie Country at last year’s championship at Royal Birkdale and there was a lot of interest from those who wanted to play golf in this area as well as watch it.
“Leading up to and during the 2011 championship we took the opportunity to promote the fantastic golf packages available in this area. We had a golf promotion stand in the tented village where visitors from the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia came in to find out more about leisure golf in this area. It was a busy place with Yani Tseng the reigning champion and Carnoustie Country fan dropping in, as did our golf ambassador Catriona Matthews, whose fantastic final rounds kept Carnoustie Country well in the spotlight!
“This year as well as our onsite and established online presence at carnoustiecountry.com we also used Twitter and Facebook to encourage some new followers. All of this promotion goes on year round but events like the Women’s Open give us a great platform.”