Staff WriterThe PGA Seniors Championship is heading for a proper slice of golfing history this summer, with Colin Montgomerie returning as host while the Staysure Legends Tour’s flagship event becomes the first professional tournament ever played on the New course at Trump International, Scotland.
For a championship already carrying the weight of being the oldest senior title in golf, that is no small footnote. It is more like teeing off into a gale with a three-shot lead and a gallery full of people quietly wondering whether the golf ball has packed a passport.
From August 6-9, the Aberdeenshire coastline will stage one of the most intriguing weeks on the over-50s circuit, bringing Ryder Cup names, Major champions and seasoned tournament operators to a links layout still fresh enough to have the new-course smell about it.
Montgomerie Returns As Host
Colin Montgomerie is not merely lending his name to the week. He gives the event a certain old-school authority: part Ryder Cup steel, part European Tour aristocracy, part man who has spent enough time in Scottish wind to know when a golf course is asking serious questions.
The eight-time European Tour Order of Merit winner will again host the Staysure PGA Seniors Championship as it returns to Trump International for a fourth time. This year, though, the attention shifts from the established Old course to the much-discussed New course.
Montgomerie said: “I’m delighted to host again – it’s a real honour. I am very humbled by the whole thing as it is fantastic to have your name associated with something of this quality. This is a truly fantastic facility, probably the greatest 36 holes of links golf in the world.
“There is always something special about this tournament, but this year genuinely feels different. To host the first ever professional event played on the New course is a huge occasion and one I think players and fans alike will remember for a long time. I think everyone involved is excited to see how it stands up under championship conditions.”
That last line may be the most delicious part of the whole affair. A new links can look magnificent in photographs, but championship golf has a way of lifting the carpet and checking the floorboards.
A Major Moment For The New Course
The New course at Trump International has already earned international attention, but this will be its first examination under professional tournament pressure. That changes the conversation.
Casual rounds are one thing. A professional field, card in hand, wind moving sideways, pin positions tucked away like secrets in a whisky cellar, is quite another.
Carved through towering natural dunes on the Aberdeenshire coast, the New course promises the kind of visual theatre Scotland does better than almost anywhere: North Sea views, rugged terrain, rolling fairways and natural bunkering that does not so much decorate the holes as stare at players with intent.
The neighbouring Old course, designed by Dr Martin Hawtree, already has serious pedigree and is ranked among Golf Digest’s “Top 100 Courses in the World”. Now the New course has its chance to step from architectural talking point to tournament stage.
Why This Week Matters
The Staysure PGA Seniors Championship occupies a distinct place in the game. It is not nostalgia in plus-fours. It is competitive golf played by men who have seen just about everything, except perhaps this course under championship conditions.
That makes the week fascinating. Senior golf often rewards guile over brute force, trajectory over tantrum, and decision-making over modern launch-monitor bravado. On a coastal Scottish links, those qualities matter even more.
The field is expected to include Ryder Cup icons, Major champions and leading figures from the Staysure Legends Tour. In other words, players who know how to survive a bad bounce, a bad lie and the quiet horror of a 30-foot putt that starts behaving like livestock halfway to the hole.
David Adams, Managing Director of the Staysure Legends Tour, added: “The Staysure PGA Seniors Championship continues to be one of the cornerstone events on our schedule and this year is especially significant. Colin’s continued involvement as host brings enormous prestige to the championship and reflects the standing he holds within the game.
“There is a lot of interest around the New course and this championship gives us the opportunity to showcase it for the first time in a professional setting. Combined with the strength of field we’re expecting in August, it should make for a very enjoyable week for players and fans alike.”
Aberdeenshire Gets The Spotlight
There is a particular light on Scotland’s north-east coast that can make a golf course look carved rather than built. Add the North Sea, the dunes, the salt in the air and the likelihood of weather arriving from three different directions before lunch, and you have the sort of setting that gives links golf its personality.
Trump International’s New course now joins that conversation in a very public way.
This is not just another tournament venue being slotted into a calendar. It is a new piece of modern links architecture being asked to prove itself in front of players who understand the difference between drama and difficulty, between good design and punishment for punishment’s sake.
Sarah Malone, Executive Vice President, Trump International, Scotland, added: “To host the Staysure Legends Tour flagship tournament for the fourth consecutive year is a great honour. The Staysure PGA Seniors Championship is an annual highlight, and we’re thrilled that it will be staged on our award-winning New course for the first time this year.
“Hosting a prestigious tournament of this scale on our new links, is testament to the quality and stature of what we have created. It is wonderful to have the endorsement of Colin Montgomerie who has been with us from the outset of our journey to build the greatest 36 holes in golf.”
The Bo Van Pelt Benchmark
Last year’s Staysure PGA Seniors Championship gave the Old course a stern championship examination. American Bo Van Pelt came through in dramatic fashion, defeating Darren Fichardt in a play-off after the pair finished as the only players under par.
That detail matters. It tells you the venue does not need fireworks, gimmicks or artificial rough thick enough to lose a spaniel. The coastline alone can provide all the mischief required.
Fichardt, the 2025 Barry Lane Rookie of the Year, helped set a high competitive bar. This year, the question is whether the New course produces the same kind of attritional, intelligent golf — the sort where par feels less like a number and more like a small act of survival.
Tickets And Playing Experiences
Spectator interest is expected to be strong, not least because this is the first chance to see professionals tackle the New course in competition.
Early bird ticketing offers are available now, along with a limited number of playing experiences. These include Pro-Am opportunities and the Legends Experiences, which allow amateur golfers to play alongside professionals during competition rounds.
For many golf fans, that is the sort of access that turns a tournament week from something watched behind ropes into something felt in the hands, feet and nervous system.
A Championship With Fresh Teeth
The PGA Seniors Championship has history behind it, but this year it has novelty in front of it. That is a rare combination.
Montgomerie brings gravitas. The Staysure Legends Tour brings the names. Trump International brings a new links stage with something to prove. And the Aberdeenshire coastline, as ever, will bring whatever weather it fancies.
The result should be a championship week with edge, curiosity and genuine sporting consequence. Not merely another stop on the senior circuit, but the first professional chapter in the life of a new Scottish links.
The Staysure PGA Seniors Championship is supported by title sponsor and the Tour’s principal partner Staysure Insurance, as well as Revolut Business, Diageo, Luxe Scot and Astrak.
For more information on the Staysure Legends Tour go to www.legendstour.com
