Carnoustie and the Old Course at St Andrews were confirmed today as the venues for the 2011 and 2013 Ricoh Women’s British Open.

The announcement was made as part of EventScotland’s 10 year partnership with the LGU and IMG to support the Ricoh Women’s British Open. The national events agency has committed to the Championship being held in Scotland on at least five occasions between 2011 and 2020.

Following the success of the 2007 Ricoh Women’s British Open at St Andrews EventScotland identified the championship as an ideal platform to promote Scotland and its outstanding golf credentials around the world. The event delivered over £7.5 million pounds to the Scottish economy and received over 356 hours of global broadcast coverage to almost 400 million households.

Paul Bush OBE, Chief Operating Officer at EventScotland said, “We are delighted to announce that the Ricoh British Women’s Open will be played for the first time at Carnoustie as well as returning to St Andrews. As we build towards The Ryder Cup in 2014 and work to broaden interest and participation in golf within Scotland, we believe the Ricoh Women’s British Open is the perfect showcase for our world class courses and facilities. We are confident that the Championships at Carnoustie and St Andrews will once again demonstrate that Scotland is the perfect stage for major golf championships.”

In 2011 the Ricoh Women’s British Open will be hosted, for the first time, over the famous Carnoustie Links in Angus, Scotland. The magnificent links course enjoys a well-deserved reputation as being one of the best links courses in the world and has hosted seven Open Championships to date with the latest in 2007, won by Ireland’s Padraig Harrington.

Gordon Murray, Chairman – Carnoustie Links Management said “We are thrilled to be hosting the 2011 Ricoh Women’s British Open. This event has grown in stature year on year and we have been very keen to get Carnoustie on the rota. I am confident the ladies will enjoy playing the course and we are looking forward to working with all the event partners to ensure its success. In the long term we’d love to secure a permanent place on the Ricoh Women’s British Open fixture list.”

The much anticipated return to the Old Course, St Andrews Links will take place in 2013 after the phenomenal success of the first visit of the Ricoh Women’s British Open to the Home of Golf in 2007. It was the first women’s professional event to be held on the famous Links but crowned a long history of top class women’s amateur golf in St Andrews. Following in the footsteps of her opposite number in the men’s game, Tiger Woods, who has won two Open Championships there, world number one Lorena Ochoa captured her first major in fine style. The Old Course will host its 28th Open Championship next year.

Alan McGregor, chief executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said, “The 2007 Championship was a great success and we are pleased to see this world class event returning to the Home of Golf. There is a long and illustrious history of women’s golf in St Andrews so it is a fitting stage on which to perform for the leading players in the women’s game and a wonderful opportunity for our Scottish players. Some of the most dramatic moments in golf have taken place at St Andrews Links and we look forward to another exciting championship.”

As the only women’s Major to be played outside the USA, the Championship Committee continue to demonstrate their commitment to ensuring the Ricoh Women’s British Open visits only world class championship courses and these celebrated golfing venues fit the brief to a tee.

“The Ladies’ Golf Union is committed to playing the Women’s British Open at the best British courses and clearly these two world class courses fit those criteria,” said Shona Malcolm, the Ladies’ Golf Union’s CEO. “We are thrilled to add one of the UK’s most famous and impressive golf courses to the rotation as well as returning to St Andrews for a second time. They are both wonderful tests of golf and will provide an excellent challenge for the best women golfers in the world.”

The Ricoh Women’s British Open was founded by the Ladies’ Golf Union in 1976 and is staged in conjunction with IMG, the world’s largest sports marketing company. The event has been co-sanctioned by the LPGA and LET since 1994 and gained Major status in 2001.

ENDS

For further information please contact:

Michele Mair, PR Manager, IMG
Mobile: 07990574184
Email: Michele.mair@imgworld.com

Sharon McKinley, PR and Media Relations Manager at EventScotland:
Tel: 0131 472 2286
Mobile: 07795 541 608
Email: Sharon.mckinley@eventscotland.org


Notes to Editors:

About EventScotland

EventScotland is Scotland’s national events agency.

EventScotland is working to make Scotland one of the world’s leading event destinations. By developing an exciting portfolio of sporting and cultural events EventScotland is helping to raise Scotland’s international profile and boost the economy by attracting more visitors.
For further information about EventScotland, its funding programmes and latest event news visit www.EventScotland.org

About the Ladies’ Golf Union (“LGU”)

Founded in 1893, the LGU is the encompassing body for ladies’ amateur golf in Great Britain and Ireland. The LGU Executive Council includes representatives of the National Organisations (English Women’s Golf Association Ltd, Irish Ladies’ Golf Union Ltd, Scottish Ladies’ Golfing Association Ltd and the Golf Union of Wales Ltd). The primary objective of the LGU is to uphold the rules of the game and to advance and safeguard the interests of ladies’ golf. In particular, the LGU owns the Ricoh Women’s British Open (one of the four Major Tournaments for Professional Women golfers), and has responsibility for running other British Championships and Home International events, and preparing the Great Britain and Ireland teams for representative matches, such as the Curtis Cup and the Vagliano Trophy.

Further information about the Ladies’ Golf Union is available on www.lgu.org

About Ricoh

Ricoh Company, Ltd (“Ricoh Company”) is a global technology leader, specialising in the office and production printing markets. Ricoh works with organisations around the world to modernise work environments and optimise document efficiency. With over 108,500 employees worldwide, it operates in Europe, the Americas, Asia Pacific, China and Japan.

Ricoh Europe Holdings Plc is a public limited company and the EMEA headquarters of Ricoh Company with operations located in London, United Kingdom and Amstelveen, the Netherlands. The EMEA operations comprise over 35 sales subsidiaries and affiliates.

In the fiscal year ended 31 March 2009, revenues from Ricoh’s EMEA operations totalled over YEN 523.4 billion accounting for 25.0 per cent of Ricoh Company’s global revenues. Ricoh Company’s worldwide sales totalled over YEN 2,091.7 billion during the year ended 31 March 2009.

www.ricoh-europe.com