Paul Lawrie & Carly Booth named Glasgow 2018 ambassadors

Scottish duo Paul Lawrie and Carly Booth have thrown their support behind a revolutionary new mixed team event which will see male and female professionals playing together for equal prize money.

The inaugural European Golf Team Championships is backed by both the European Tour and Ladies European Tour and will take place at Gleneagles in Scotland from August 8-12, 2018, as part of the innovative multi-sport Glasgow 2018 European Championships.

The new format will feature a 50/50 gender split in the field with male and female professionals competing for equal prize money in both a men’s and women’s team matchplay championship, as well as an 18-hole foursomes strokeplay mixed team championship.

Now Lawrie and Booth have welcomed the introduction of the championships in their roles as Glasgow 2018 ambassadors.

Lawrie, who is a huge advocate of golf development and participation through his Paul Lawrie Foundation, said: “I am delighted to become an ambassador for Glasgow 2018 and to support the first ever European Golf Team Championships. It is a hugely innovative and exciting format and will provide an historic moment for equality in sport with men and women competing together in the mixed team event.

“With golf returning to the Olympics in 2016 and again in 2020, this is yet another chance for the game to achieve greater profile as part of a multi-sport environment and I am definitely in favour of anything that can help to further develop golf both in Scotland and worldwide.”

Booth, who grew up just 15 miles from Gleneagles, added: “The European Golf Team Championships will be a great moment for women’s golf competing side-by-side with men on an equal footing.

“I am thrilled to become an ambassador for Glasgow 2018 and to support an event which will do so much to raise the profile of the Ladies European Tour and women’s golf in general.”

Players will represent their countries with 16 teams of two players competing in the Men’s and Women’s Team events before combining to form teams of four (two men and two women) in the Mixed Team Championship.

Qualification for the championships will be via the European Golf Team Championships points tables for men and women, which are based on men’s Official World Golf Ranking Points and women’s Rolex Ranking Points earned from tournaments finishing between Monday, July 10, 2017, and Monday, July 9, 2018. A maximum of three teams can represent any one nation in each event.

Tickets are now on sale with adult prices from £10 for practice days and £15 on competition days. Children under the age of 16 are admitted free when accompanied by an adult. For more information, visit glasgow2018.com.