At a press briefing in St Andrews on Monday, First Minister Alex Salmond announced the 10-year-partnership between Scotland's national events agency, EventScotland; the Ladies' golf Union (LGU) and premier sports media company IMG.

EventScotland is the lead agency in the 10-year deal which has been secured thanks to a £600,000 investment by the Scottish Government.

Mr Salmond said he was delighted to make the announcement from St Andrews, admitting that he knew something about golf and the town from his university days there. He joked that the fact that he could play all the courses on his student ticket for: "something like £10 a year," had been a major consideration when choosing which university to attend.

And he said there was no better place to be on a warm summer's evening than on his favourite course in St Andrews, the Eden.

Golf and Scotland were synonymous, he said and the growing worldwide interest in women's golf had potential and "pulling power" in terms of promoting golf in Scotland.

The links being cemented by the deal would he hoped, inspire the "excellent women" currently on the tour and provide huge potential in terms of the up and coming home-grown talent such as Curtis Cup team members Krystle Caithness (St Regulus), Sally Watson (Elie), Perthshire's Carly Booth and Michele Thomson from Aberdeenshire.

"I anticipate that when the first of those (Women's British Open) events comes to Scotland, the first of those youngsters will be up and challenging. This is not something that is going to stop. This is something that is going to carry forward and will be a major asset in the panoply of events and attractions in Scotland."

Welcoming the deal, LGU chief executive, Shona Malcolm, said her organisation was delighted to be working with EventScotland and very much looking forward, in partnership with them, to continuing to grow and develop the Ricoh Women's British Open year on year.

She welcomed the opportunities for young Scottish players that holding it over Scottish links would offer. The young Scots girls had aquitted themselves very well in the Curtis Cup and one of them could well be the first to lift the Ricoh trophy, when the tournament returned to Scotland, she said, adding: "I'll buy the champagne if they do that!"

Mr Salmond later toured St Andrews Links Trust practice centre and driving range where he met a group of young girl members of SALJGA.