Highland hospitality has ensured the Barclay's Scottish Open has been extended the warmest of welcomes to Castle Stuart, with advance ticket sales outstripping those at the tournament's previous home of Loch Lomond.

“It’s probably fair to say we were a little bit cautious about coming this far north but the Highland community has really got behind this and our advance ticket sales have far exceeded any at Loch Lomond,” said Peter Adams, the tournament director. “We’re hoping for about 50,000 spectators over the course of the week. We think that figure is very reachable on the basis of advance sales and what we know about the walk up and it could even be higher.

“We’re also delighted that all of our sponsors, led by Barclay’s, have stayed with the event. They would have had the option of withdrawing when we moved but every single one of them has opted to stay with the event. Corporate hospitality was sold out fully one month ago, which is a tremendous position to be in and there have been visits to the course from both BBC and Sky, the host broadcasters, who are delighted with what they have seen. They say the aesthetics mean that it is going to televise beautifully.”

That enthusiasm from both the public and the business community partly reflects the increased interest in European Tour events at a time when its players hold all four Major titles, while two more, Englishmen Luke Donald and Lee Westwood, will renew their rivalry following last month’s BMW PGA Championship at Wentworth, where Donald won a play-off to claim both the title and replace Westwood at the top of the world rankings.

They are among five of the top eight in those rankings already committed to taking part in the event and, as Adams noted, there is still scope for that to be added to since entries do not close until later this month. “There are always surprises,” he said, refusing to rule out the possibility of Martin Kaymer, the world No.3, changing his mind and deciding to take part.

However, only two years after it opened, the new venue is itself being seen as a rising star of the sport and moving to it has apparently helped strengthen the field. “This is the third links course to host the event, following St Andrews in 1973 and Carnoustie in 1995 and ‘96,” said Adams. “There is a lot of interest in that and when we were making the decision to come here we were very well aware that there has been an on-going debate about taking it to a links. We were confident to do it because the groundswell of opinion was in favour and I think the feedback will be very positive.

“The most notable inclusion in the field (from that perspective) is Padraig Harrington, who hasn’t played in the Scottish Open for many years. He has always said that if we took it to a links he would play and he has followed through on that.”

That change in the terrain could have been mitigated by the fact that -- in this first year at Castle Stuart -- the following week’s Open Championship is being held at the venue that is furthest from the Moray Firth course, Sandwich on England’s south coast. However when compared with the type of trips the touring professionals routinely make that was never likely to be a major concern and the depth of quality of what looks to be the strongest field ever assembled for this event makes it clear that there has been a net gain.

The home challenge is led by Martin Laird, who won his second US Tour event earlier this year, with Stephen Gallacher, the leading Scot on the European Tour and Paul Lawrie, the former Open champion also in the field.

From across the Irish Sea Harrington is joined by Graeme McDowell, who defends his US Open title next week, while the leading Americans are Phil Mickelson and Matt Kuchar, the world No.5 and No.6 respectively.

While the course they will encounter very much has the look of one of the more modern, manicured links venues, in the mould of the likes of Turnberry and Kingsbarns, Mark Parsinen, the course designer, meanwhile promised a challenge in the very oldest traditions of the sport.

“This course is more like St Andrews where the fairways are very generous but you have problems if you don’t hit the ball in the right positions,” he said. “I prefer it when you stand on a tee and know that a good shot is being rewarded but is you hit a bad shot there is an opportunity for redemption.”