The Scottish Golf Union has announced a new three-year sponsorship deal with Belhaven, with the Dunbar-based brewer becoming the Official Beer Partner of the SGU.
The agreement is worth more than £150,000 over three years, in addition to Belhaven’s investment in clubs at a local level, making it one of the richest in the organisation’s history. The deal will extend Belhaven’s involvement with the SGU to eight years, coming at the end of the current five-year agreement which has seen the company sponsor the Scottish Club Handicap Championship since 2001.
The partnership will see the SGU launch a new Scottish Club Captains & Secretaries Championship, aimed at thanking the valuable contribution club officials and staff make towards running golf in Scotland. The Scottish Club Handicap Championship will revert to a national individual event for club golfers, with both events culminating in a grand final at one of Scotland’s leading golf courses. Belhaven will also support other areas of the SGU’s club services offering.
Bill Hughes, managing director for Belhaven’s Drinks Division, was delighted to extend his company’s involvement with amateur golf in Scotland. “Our new partnership with the Scottish Golf Union reflects our commitment to golf in Scotland, both at a national and local grass roots level. Golf Clubs have been at the heart of Belhaven Best’s growth into one of the most prominent drinks brands in Scotland and to our success over the last fifteen years.
“We have developed an excellent working relationship with the Scottish Golf Union who have progressed significantly in recent years and we are confident that the SGU and their members will continue to help us deliver against our objectives in the years ahead.”
The Scottish Golf Union’s marketing & sponsorship manager, Ross Duncan, added, “Securing a new sponsorship deal with Belhaven is a great boost to what has been another successful year on and off the course for the Scottish Golf Union. The Belhaven brand has become synonymous with golfers in Scotland and we are delighted to be launching a new partnership which supports our clubs.
“The new event will help us form closer links with our clubs and reward the people who invest much of their time and effort running their clubs at a local level. Securing such a major sponsorship with a brand of Belhaven’s profile reflects the growing stature of the SGU.”
Belhaven is one of the most successful companies in Scotland having recorded fifteen successive years of uninterrupted growth. The Belhaven Best brand – the number one draught ale in Scotland – is now stocked in more than two hundred Scottish Golf Clubs and is regarded as a favourite among the country’s golfing population. The Belhaven Best Scottish Club Handicap Championship has become Scotland’s biggest participation golf event, with more than 22,000 golfers across 300 clubs competing in this year’s event.
The final of this year’s event, which took place on Friday 7 October at the Marriot Dalmahoy Hotel & Country Club, was won by Downfield Golf Club.
Scottish Golf Union www.scottishgolfunion.org
Belhaven Breweries : www.belhaven.co.uk
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