Golf’s Scottish Challenge returning to Kelso after 2025 debut

Otherwise known as the European Challenge tour, that competition is well known for being a stepping stone to the DP World Tour for up-and-coming golfers, a case in point being last year’s Scottish Challenge winner at the Heiton hotel, Perth’s Daniel Young, having done just that with a 19-under-par total of 265 after carding rounds of 64, 67, 64 and 70, edging out France’s Julien Quesne by a single point.

A year on, the 34-year-old, ranked 409th globally after hitting a high of 272nd, is now a familiar face on the World Tour and at the Open.

On top of that, for more established names, the HotelPlanner Tour and its Scottish Challenge event, supported by the R&A, offer an opportunity to rediscover form, and ex-Ryder Cup and world top-50 player Chris Wood will be lining up at the Roxburghe next week as he bids to improve his global ranking of 289th alongside fellow World Tour pros Eddie Pepperell and Matthew Southgate.

Bristol’s Wood, 38, was once ranked 22nd in the world, finished fifth and third in his first two Open Championships in 2008 and 2009 and played in the 2016 Ryder Cup. After a few years off the circuit, he marked his return this year by winning the Italian Challenge Open.

Oxfordshire’s Pepperell, 35, was once rated 32nd in the world and was runner-up to South Africa’s Brandon Stone at 2018’s Scottish Open.

Essex’s Southgate, 37, finished joint-46th in July’s 2026 Open at Southport’s Royal Birkdale Golf Club alongside John Rahm, Patrick Reed and Francesco Molinari.

Borderer Craig Howie, winner of the Tartan Pro Tour’s Royal Dornoch Masters in the Highlands in April and once ranked 225th worldwide, now 1,172nd, will also be competing.

Christopher Addison took over as the Schloss Roxburghe’s golf sales manager last year, having previously worked at South Ayrshire’s Turnberry and le Golf National in Paris, and he wants to see the 18-hole Borders course become a top global golf destination.

“I knew of the Roxburghe before I came here, and its reputation as a fine golf course in a wonderful area attracted me to this role, but I think there is an element of the Borders and the many fine courses across the region still being considered something of a hidden gem,” he said.

“I hear of people all over the world saying the Schloss Roxburghe is on their courses-I-have-to-play list, and we are working hard to grow our reputation as a world-class golfing destination, along with the stunning hotel facilities. Having the HotelPlanner bring a tournament here is a great way to help us put the Schloss Roxburghe and the Borders as a golfing region firmly on the world map.

“When you have people like Chris Wood, Matthew Southgate, the very talented Asian golfer Gavin Green and top Scots like Craig Howie from Peebles, Marc Warren and Gregor Graham all lining up, it makes for a really interesting, high-class field.”

That field will be playing for a share of a £250,000 prize pot from next Thursday, August 6, to the following Sunday, with the winner collecting close to £43,0000.

The Roxburghe celebrates its 30th year in 2027 and has been played by some of the world’s best golfers – Nick Faldo, Colin Montgomerie and Sergio Garcia among them – but bettering them all in last year’s edition of the upcoming HotelPlanner tournament was Englishman Will Enefer, lowering the course record to 61, and he’s back for another go this time round.

The HotelPlanner Tour works with Scotland’s Tartan Pro Tour to give players a chance to play at the Roxburghe, and with the former offering qualifying spots for the DP World Tour, life could potentially change dramatically for the better if all goes well on the greens over four days in the Borders, so fierce competition looks to be on the cards next week.

“The great thing from our point of view is that the Roxburghe is a great course for spectators,” added Addison.

“It is long and wide in places and it’s quite relaxed so it will be free for people to roll up and follow the pros up close and get an insight to just how good they are.

“We’re growing our membership again and awareness of the course globally, and we have all standards of golfer enjoying this course, and many who have played it will find it fascinating to see these how these guys shoot birdies and eagles here – and also where they find problems.

“The only change to the normal course will be the par-five seventh hole becoming a par-four because these guys hit the ball so far, but otherwise it’s the same course as members and visitors to Roxburghe play.”

A pro-am will be staged next Wednesday, with the tournament launching the day after.

Other golfers set to take part in the 2006-founded Scottish Challenge – held at Kelso this year and last after three years at Newmachar in Aberdeenshire following its relaunch in 2022 – include Germany’s Anton Albers, South Africa’s Ryan van Velzen, the Netherlands’ Lars van der Vight, France’s Julien Sale, Finland’s Tapio Pulkkanen and Spain’s Pablo Ereno.

Its current residency in the Borders follows stagings at Macdonald Cardrona Hotel near Peebles in 2007 and 2008.

Admission for spectators is free. For details, go to https://schlosshotel-roxburghe.com/en/events/whats-on/scottish-challenge