World Final set for The Carrick

The 2010 International Pairs World Final will be held at The Carrick on Loch Lomond as part of a new agreement between the world’s largest competition of its kind for club golfers and leading hotel group De Vere.
Ross Honey, founder and managing director of International Pairs, has finalised a deal with the hoteliers for them to become one of the event‘s chief sponsors.
In addition to The Carrick on Loch Lomond staging this year’s world final from October 6-8, the tournament’s regional finals will be hosted by De Vere venues across England, with the UK Final to be played at Wychwood Park in Cheshire in September.
De Vere has a long-standing relationship with golf having hosted numerous events on the European, Seniors and Ladies Tours since the 1990s and Honey believes the arrangement will signal a new chapter in International Pairs’s history.
Honey said: “To reach an agreement for De Vere to become our hotel partner is an exciting and major new development for International Pairs.
“Their name is synonymous with the game and some of the finest courses in the UK. At International Pairs, we pride ourselves on selecting top-class venues for our world final competitors and The Carrick on Loch Lomond is a perfect fit.
“The venue has quickly established itself as one of Scotland’s outstanding new courses and it will not only provide an excellent test of golf for this year’s finalists, but is set against the breathtaking backdrop of Loch Lomond.”
The International Pairs world final has been held at some of the best courses in the UK since it was first held in 2004 including Celtic Manor, Carnoustie and The Duke’s, St Andrews.
This year will be fourth in a row that Scotland has hosted the event but it will be the first time that it has been staged at The Carrick, overlooking the banks of Loch Lomond.
The award-winning five-star venue is the flagship venue of De Vere’s 11 golfing destinations in the UK and has won a steady stream of accolades since it opened to widespread acclaim in November 2006.
The course, which was designed by renowned golf architect Doug Carrick, measures 7,068 yards from the championship tees and has already staged the Ladies European Tour’s De Vere Scottish Open in 2007 and 2008 and the PGA Cup – the equivalent of the Ryder Cup for PGA professionals – last autumn.
Daniel Hodson, golf and leisure director for De Vere Collection, said: “We are delighted to have been awarded the world final of the International Pairs and I am sure the players from across the world will find The Carrick on Loch Lomond a great test of golf. “
The new association with De Vere follows in the footsteps of recent agreements with the likes of Glenmuir, Excel Golf and VPAR and means that International Pairs can offer its competitors a better standard than ever in 2010.
More than 500,000 golfers, including West Indian cricket legend Sir Viv Richards and former Manchester United star Dwight Yorke, and over 40 countries have participated in the competition to date since its inception in 1998 and that number is forecast to increase rapidly with more countries than ever signing up to the global event.
For more details on International Pairs, visit their website at www.internationalpairs.com or e-mail info@internationalpairs.com