£50 m hotel and golf development

Facility vital for the tourism industry

The Courier, 21 August 1998

The “Home of Golf,” St Andrews, is set for a £50 million hotel and golf development - one of the largest projects of its type ever in Scotland - which is expected to create over 300 jobs.

The multi-million-pound scheme, details of which have been outlined to Fife Council and representatives of a range of other agencies and organisations, is on course to begin construction early in the new year.

The 240-bedroom destination and conference hotel, complete with leisure facilities and indoor swimming pool, along with two 18-hole golf courses on a spectacular clifftop site overlooking St Andrews, will incorporate state-of-the-art golf teaching and practice lay-outs.

The development programme will also include an additional 80 executive-type lodges in the grounds designed for corporate membership.

Behind the St Andrews Bay initiative - which is viewed as being of tremendous economic benefit to St Andrews and a boost to the tourism industry - is American business man Dr Donald Panoz, founder and chairman of the Ireland-based Elan Pharmaceutical Company which he has built up over the past quarter of a century.

His Chateau Elan resort near Atlanta, Georgia, is renowned as one of the most elegant resort destinations in North America and he is also known worldwide for his Panoz Automative Manufacturing Company, producing classic sports and racing cars.

At a private reception hosted in St Andrews by Fife Council - attended by councillors and officials, St Andrews Links Trust, the Royal and Ancient Golf Club and representatives from civic, environmental and local community groups - Dr Panoz, who is chairman of St Andrews Bay Development Ltd, said that the development would be located on farmland on the outskirts of St Andrews.

He added that the company had completed the purchase of the 360-acre Kingask Farm, two miles east of the town, earlier this summer. Outline planning permission was awarded for an hotel and 36 holes of golf in April of last year.

Dr Panoz continued, “More than 120 additional acres of neighbouring land has been purchased and a further 30 acres on an adjacent site is under negotiation. Design work for the hotel and golf courses is at an advanced stage and it is anticipated formal planning permission will be sought within a matter of weeks.”

He said yesterday that he had been “delighted” to have had the opportunity to present the blueprint.

“It was important that such a major development was brought before the community for discussion and consultation. We have followed a strict policy of consulting with the council and local interest groups on a regular basis all through the early planning process.

“Such co-operation will help to ensure the project is not only a commercial success but will also be of real social and economic benefit to the area.”

He also emphasised that the company was determined to utilise local services when possible during and after construction.

Commenting yesterday on the plans, Fife Council’s convener, Councillor John MacDougall, said, “The potential of these ambitious proposals is very exciting and we welcome such an investment. The development will boost the local economy and provide jobs among many other benefits.”

St Andrews Bay Development Ltd has appointed Cupar planning firm Montgomery Forgan Associates, in conjunction with Dundee architects the Parr Partnership, to design and supervise the hotel and clubhouse construction, understood to be costing £25 million.

St Andrews-based Iain MacKinnon, the company’s European operations director, added, “The whole essence of the project is quality and it will be unique in Scotland.

“It will include Scotland’s largest conference hotel, a facility which tourist officials believe is vital to the country’s tourism industry as a whole and to Fife in particular.”

American golfing legend Gene Sarazen will be one of the designers of the high-quality St Andrews Bay courses and yesterday visited the site with representatives of the company.

Although he is aged 96, Mr Sarazen continues to advise on course design, and has a long association with St Andrews. He was a leading figure in the construction of The Legends Course at Dr Panoz’ Chateau Elan hotel complex, and also his Legends West layout at Diablo Grande, California, which also involved Jack Nicklaus, who has expressed an interest in helping to design the St Andrews setup.

Construction work is likely to start in March of next year, and it is hoped that the development might be completed in time for summer 2000 when the Open Championship is due to return to St Andrews. The golf courses - which will also be made available for local play - could be open on a restricted basis at that time.