Martin Dempster: Nicola Sturgeon could hold key to Scottish Open future

England's Aaron Rai, left, won the last staging of the Aberdeen Standard Investments Scottish Open under its current contract but Aberdeen Standard Life chairman Sir Douglas Flint, right, is hopeful a new deal can be struck for the Rolex Series event. Picture: Andrew Redington/Getty Images

So, what now for the Scottish Open? The contract for the event has expired in the midst of an economic disaster due to Covid-19 and, as always seems to be the case, future venues are proving a headache.

The most important thing to get sorted, of course, is that contract, with last week's event at The Renaissance Club having been the ninth under a partnership involving Aberdeen Standard Investments, the Scottish Government and the European Tour.

In that time, there can be no denying that the stature of the tournament has grown, having been helped in that respect by it earning Rolex Series status, and, even with no crowds on this occasion, it still had that feeling of something special.

Negotiations about a new contract between those three parties are "ongoing" and the good news is it appears that any concern about Martin Gilbert retiring last week as ASI's chairman potentially being harmful is unfounded.

Yes, golf-mad Gilbert has been the driving force behind the company's unparalleled support of the game in Scotland and its golfers, from grass-roots level all the way up the ladder, but, crucially, others in the boardroom see the value that golf can bring to a global brand.

"As a business person, you’ve got to be clear on the economics," said Sir Douglas Flint, chairman of Standard Life Aberdeen, having previously been the group chairman of HSBC.

"When I was at HSBC, the two sports we did were rugby and golf because they fitted with the demographic and values. Golf more than anything because of its universality through all spectrums of society.

"The challenge is always: what are the other things you could do that might be better? Golf fitted and it was very effective. But you’ve got to separate loving golf from whether it fits with the brand and the target audience.

"I think, candidly, that golf fits with a wealth business and a trust business. The values in golf are probably among the highest of any sport. It’s got a lot of really good credentials, so I hope it (those talks about a new contract) will work."

That certainly sounds positive, but equally important is the Scottish Government's role in that partnership and who knows if the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, is keen to provide the same support going forward as her predecessor, Alex Salmond, did when the chips were down in the past.

"Without Government contribution, this event would have been lost," said Gilbert, not telling us anything new during a chat at The Renaissance Club on Sunday but, at the same time, hammering home the message about just how close the Scottish Open was to losing its coveted pre-Open Championship slot on the European Tour schedule.