04-07-2025
- Business
- The Herald Scotland
Scottish golf set to cash in as summer gets underway
"We can't get more people into St Andrews to play more golf," Mr Coulson said. "We're already busy and we have the local balance that we have to make sure we maintain."
He added: "There's got to be some joined-up conversations about infrastructure and how people move around, and also about the experience that people get. There's lots of different sport and tourism sectors doing really good things, but it's about how do you join those up so that a distillery piece is connected to a golf piece that's connected to a heritage piece."
St Andrews Links Trust chief executive Neil Coulson is calling for 'some joined-up conversations' (Image: St Andrews Links Trust)
As reported earlier this week in Business HQ Monthly, Dundonald Links in Ayrshire is preparing to host the ISPS Handa Women's Scottish Open which gets underway on July 24.
The venue, owned by holiday park operator Darwin Escapes, is effectively gifting the course and the clubhouse to event management company IMG for the week. In-house catering for players, officials and the event's corporate sponsors is being charged at cost.
'Where does Dundonald make money? That's a good question,' says Craig Reekie, general manager of Dundonald Links.
'There's probably a commercial aspect that says we could make more money on our normal operations, but…the balance of it is exposure. It's a really high-profile media event."
Craig Reekie says Dundonald Links benefits from the exposure of hosting the Women's Scottish Open (Image: Dundonald Links)
Roy Clarke, manager of international operations at tour operator All Access GTE, told The Herald's Around the Greens series that interest in Scotland has never been higher but the industry is potentially pricing itself out of the market.
"Costs for hotels, courses, and transport have jumped more than 10% in a single year," Mr Clarke said. "If the trend continues, there's a real risk that Scotland might price itself out of reach for many travellers, especially with Ireland charging less which is becoming increasingly attractive alternative."
The month kicked off with the publication of The Herald's first Scottish Golf Survey, which found among other things that financial benefits from the 'Covid bounce' – the resurgence in the game's popularity since lockdown – have been far from uniform.
Some clubs and venues reported they were managing well up to 2020 but had since been undone by the inflationary surge of the cost-of-living crisis, which has outweighed any gain in membership numbers. Others that were previously struggling are, unsurprisingly, continuing to have a tough time.
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The survey series also uncovered divided opinions among affiliated clubs towards governing body Scottish Golf. OpenPlay, the handicapping system for independent players who are not a member of a golf club, similarly sparked some robust responses.
Launched in June 2021 by Scottish Golf, the scheme offers anyone the opportunity to gain an official handicap at a cost of £4.99 per month or for an annual fee of £50. OpenPlay members also get access to tee booking and affiliated green fee rates which typically come at a discount but are charged in addition to their OpenPlay membership.
Scottish Golf and other national governing bodies that operate similar schemes say the aim is to keep independent players in the golfing fold and perhaps ultimately guide them back into club membership. Some club officials maintain that it cheapens the game and is detrimental to their finances.
And finally, in response to the survey results, Scottish Golf chief executive Robbie Clyde revealed that affiliation fees paid by players to his organisation may have to go up to avoid charging those who are members of multiple clubs twice or more over.
