Scottish Golf CEO Blane Dodds believes the introduction of a Scottish Mixed Championship to the amateur fixture list "can show club golfers they are valued by the governing body," according to Martin Dempster of the SCOTSMAN. It has "often been claimed that members of Scottish golf clubs have received little in return for the per capita fee that comes out of their annual subscription, a common gripe having been that the focus is more on the elite amateurs rather than the rank and file." With Ping, one of the game’s leading equipment manufacturers, as its title sponsor, the Scottish Mixed Championship "will involve clubs holding a qualifying event, either using an existing mixed tournament or introducing a new one, from April through to the end of July." The pairings with the top 40 Stableford scores nationwide "will qualify for a Grand Final, which will be staged on the Queen’s Course at Gleneagles in September." Launched at Gleneagles by Beth Allen, the Edinburgh-based American who "topped the Ladies European Order of Merit as well as securing a card for the LPGA Tour next season," and '16 Scottish Men’s Order of Merit winner Euan McIntosh, "it is hoped that around 15,000 club golfers will compete in the new event." Worth five figures in "each of the three years the initial deal covers," it takes the total Scottish Golf sponsorship to around £500,000 ($618,250) (SCOTSMAN, 12/20).
