East Lothian club set to host World Hickory Open

The World Hickory Golf Open heads to Scotland’s Golf Coast for the first time next month, with golfers from 16 countries set to enter.

The event, which takes place at Kilspindie Golf Club from October 3-4, is in its 13th staging and arrives after a hugely successful time at Panmure Golf Links, where two-time major champion Sandy Lyle wowed onlookers with a 67 to capture the win.

Sadly, Lyle will not be teeing it up this year but the event is still expected to attract more than 120 hickory golf aficionados including at least 20 professionals.

This World Hickory Golf Open’s move to East Lothian is particularly fitting after founder and organiser Lionel Freedman, who lived in East Lothian, sadly died earlier this year.

The running of the tournament has been taken over by Lionel’s directors, although the various events were planned by Lionel himself – practice at Luffness on Monday, the actual event at Kilspindie on Tuesday and Wednesday, followed by a fun event at Craigielaw on the Thursday.

What then follows is a three-cornered Ryder Cup-format event at Musselburgh Old Course, recognised as the oldest continuously played course in the World and a fitting location for such an international field. The event, sponsored by LinkedGolfers, will be played in East Lothian for the next three years and it is hoped it will become a permanent fixture in East Lothian’s events diary.

For more information, visit worldhickoryopen.com.