Tartan Army Gathering

Spey Valley Golf

Fairplay Cup Roll of Honour
Year	Winners	Venue
1999	Highland TA	Perth
2000	Highland TA	Inverness
2001	East of Scotland TA	Perth
2002	Perthshire TA	Perth
2003	Perthshire TA	Saltcoats
2004	Edinburgh TA	Campbeltown
2005	Perthshire TA	Edinburgh
2006	May the Best Team Win!	Aviemore

Golf Tournament

The splendid new Spey Valley golf course at Aviemore is to open on May 26 next year, the owners have announced this week. Macdonald Hotels hired world-class designer Dave Thomas to build a course capable of staging of top-flight professional events while still being playable by golfers across the board, including those with slightly higher handicaps.

Off the back tees, Spey Valley measures close on 7,200yd. However, varied teeing grounds putting it at 6,800yd, means it can be set up for golfers of all abilities. A straight-out, straight back lay-out, the course will have a par of 72 (36-36) with five par-5s including a "monster" 641-yard fifth hole, one of the longest holes in Scotland .

Scotland legend Archie Gemmill is taking part in the golf tournament on Friday 30 June

The four par-3s, at their longest, are certainly not in the "flick with a wedge" category either - the 213yd fourth, the 208yd sixth, the 197yd 10th and the 229yd 16th.

The course, nestling in a Caledonian pine forest with the towering Cairngorms as a backdrop and the River Spey flowing past several heather-lined fairways, has a magnificent, picture postcard setting.

Dave Thomas expects it soon to be ranked among Britain’s top five inland golf venues.

“Spey Valley will be a real championship course but, for its survival, it also needs to attract golfers of all abilities. I’m sure the fact that it is so far north will not be a drawback. Like a good restaurant, people will travel for quality. It’s as simple as that,” said Dave.

Designer of well over 100 courses world wide, Thomas, now 71, added:
"God willing, I would love to see this course in a few years' time when all the signs of construction have gone and all you see is what we have created."

"I insisted that we worked from inside the tree-line all the time, creating no scars and, hopefully, adding to the vista of this beautiful part of the Scottish Highlands. "Ultimately, this may prove to be my jewel in the crown."

Bookings for a round over Spey Valley from May 27 onwards can be made, even now, by phoning 01479 815100 or E-mailing:

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