Royal Deeside Golf Week welcomes international field

The Herald Scotland

08-05-2025

'We've golfers coming from Poland, Cyprus and Sweden – countries we haven't targeted at all but obviously word of mouth and referrals among the golfing community has meant these people have heard about us and want to come and spend a week on Deeside playing golf,' said Nigel Bradburn, RDGW coordinator and past president of Aboyne Golf Club.
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First held in 2003 and previously known as the Royal Deeside Golf Classic, the annual 72-hole Stableford tournament features women and men playing in separate three-ball competitions based on their handicaps. This year's field of 260 is an even split between male and female players.
The event is a cornerstone for businesses throughout the valley that are heavily dependent on the annual tourist season between March and October.
'Because it takes place in July, we would probably fill up naturally during that time, but what it's done is, because people book for the golf week, we find that week fills really early,' said Joyce Welsh, who together with her husband Garry runs the Lys-Na-Greyne bed and breakfast in Aboyne. 'They come, and then they will book again for the following year.'
The financial benefits extend beyond the week itself, according to Ms Welsh, with non-golfers coming at other times of the year on the recommendation of players taking part in RDGW.
'We have a lot of international guests that come to stay with us,' she added. 'They are usually with us for two or three nights and then move on but because this is a five-day golf festival they are generally here for six nights, or longer if they decide to stay in the area and go sightseeing for a few days as well.'
Garry and Joyce Welsh run the Lys-Na-Greyne bed and breakfast in Aboyne (Image: Contributed) Mr Bradburn became directly involved in RDGW after Storm Frank ravaged Aberdeenshire in December 2015, hitting the villages of Ballater, Braemar and Aboyne the worst as the River Dee burst its banks, washing away roads and homes, forcing residents to flee to safety.
'Obviously, the golf courses were knocked out of action as well,' Mr Bradburn said. 'The storm had a huge economic impact.
'That was when we first approached the local Aberdeenshire Council to say we needed some money because it wasn't just about four golf courses, it's about bringing people into this 40-mile corridor to spend their money during the week they are with us.'
Funding support was agreed with the event set to resume before it was again knocked off course, this time by the pandemic. That was when organisers went 'cap in hand' to VisitScotland, securing a five-figure sum from the organisation's EventScotland directorate to support RDGW's eventual return in 2021.
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'We have been victims of our own success,' Mr Bradburn said. 'We did a soft relaunch after Covid and we sold out within five days with only 140 golfers, and we knew straight away we had an offering that was appealing to people, and obviously it has grown year on year. A lot of people, once they have played in this, they come back year on year.
'A good 40% to 50% of our players are coming back from last year, so they make their accommodation bookings pretty much as soon as the event finishes this year because they know accommodation is in short supply here on Deeside, and obviously the changes from the Scottish Government on lettings and licensing have also had an adverse effect on some of the providers up here on whether they keep their B&Bs open.
'When the big storm hit a lot of the bed and breakfasts were knocked out, and some of them have more recently decided that it's not worth their while to continue trading because of the legislative piece that has been imposed, and obviously there is the potential tourism tax that is being talked about now as well.'
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Located four miles outside of Ballater, the Cambus O'May hotel is an accommodation provider that has recently returned to the market. Originally built as a hunting lodge in 1874 by Sir William Cunliffee Brooks as a present to his daughter Amy, the property had been shut for six years before it came back into business under new owners in 2021.
'The golf brings a lot of guests to our hotel, and all the hotels in the area, that we would normally never have seen before,' general manager Derek Pittendreigh said. 'And it's not just the hotels – the local shops and everything see a larger footfall during the course of that week.
'That week is well booked out because the golfers that we had with us last year re-booked again. Not only that, but they have also recommended us to friends and family who have joined us during the season outside of the golf week.'
As for the local clubs hosting the event, Mr Bradburn said the financial returns are of 'massive' importance to their finances.
'We are four community-based clubs, so we are not the big guys like Gleneagles and the like,' he explained. 'We are just small little community clubs that provide a service to all people in the villages surrounding our respective courses.'