Call for study into new course

Edward Black, The Scotsman, 6 August 2003

The manager of a prestigious hotel complex at the home of golf has called for an impact study into the effects of building a new £7 million course amid fears that St Andrews is becoming “Disneyfied”.

Angry residents have already expressed opposition to the plans by St Andrews Links Trust to create a seventh course, because a surge in golf-course development is pushing the historic Fife seaside town to breaking point and into a “low-grade theme park”.

Now, Jonathan Stapleton, the general manager of the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa, has urged Fife Council to undertake a full economic study because of concerns over the impact the proposed new course will have on the area’s other courses.

The town’s private courses are already operating well below capacity, with visitor numbers dropping significantly over the past year.

Mr Stapleton believes the timing of a new course is open to question. He said: “We need to remain somewhat cautious and not overly optimistic about visitor numbers increasing significantly over the next three to five years.

“St Andrews has more and more to compete with on the world stage, with emerging golf destinations such as Ireland and South Africa, not to mention the US, where new investment is seeing not only new, spectacular complexes, but also existing ones being developed to satisfy the American golfer at home. While no-one can doubt that the £6 million to £7 million course would be a fabulous addition to golf in St Andrews, and one which we would all want to play at some point, one does have to ask if this is the right time to be building another course in the town.

“We need to know whether a seventh course will have economic benefits for St Andrews and Fife as a whole.”

Mr Stapleton believes that visitor demand could easily be accommodated at St Andrews Bay and at the town’s Kings-barns and the Duke’s courses and has suggested that a survey of local players could be carried out to find out how many golfers would use the trust’s proposed course.

His remarks follow expressions of concern by local residents that the historic fabric of St Andrews was under threat from the proliferation of new golf courses.

Six centuries after the game was first played on the rolling links around the town, planners are now opening new courses in the area at a rate of almost one a year. There are now 11 courses in the immediate vicinity.

Five of the courses will have been built in eight years, and developers are working on proposals for a further three, costing more than £75 million.

Professor Terence Lee, a member of the town’s Green Belt Forum, said the growth of golf has “Disneyfied” a historic town, damaging a delicate ecosystem, peerless views and the quality of life in the area.

“It is just becoming wall-to-wall golf courses,” said Prof Lee, a resident of St Andrews for more than 20 years.

“It is becoming like Disneyland; like a theme park. We have had enough of golf courses and most people would like to see natural coastline and unspoilt agricultural land.”

Since 1995, the number of rounds played each year on the links trust’s six courses, including the world-famous Old Course, has risen by 25 per cent to 211,000, despite recent visitor deterrents such as war in Iraq, SARS, foot-and-mouth disease and 11 September. Factors contributing to the boom include the number of wealthy students, such as Prince William, who have gone to study in the town.

The links trust has predicted that local demand is set to increase and that that the course is needed to relieve pressure on tee times at the existing links courses.

However, many of the town’s 13,000 residents, a population boosted by 7,000 students in term time, believe that although golf has brought huge economic rewards, the sheer volume of golfers, and traffic, is pushing it beyond capacity.

Fife Council’s east area development control team leader, Nick Brian, said that no formal planning application has yet been lodged for the proposed course.

He said the applicants would be required to provide supporting information, which expressed justification for constructing an additional course.

“This would need to examine issues such as the relationship with the existing courses operated by the applicant and why the extra courses may be needed in terms of existing and proposed capacity,” he said.

“The economic impact would be an important consideration in the determination in any planning application for a further golf course.”

St Andrews is already home to five-and-a-half public courses and four private courses. Mr Stapleton predicts that with an increasing number of golfers taking advantage of a proliferation of quality courses in up-and-coming golfing destinations, a new course would take away thousands of visiting players from the town’s existing courses.

Mr Stapleton added, “How popular will a non-links seventh course really be with locals who, for centuries, have enjoyed the simplicity of access to some of the most memorable and special holes in golf?

“We need to know whether a seventh course will have economic benefits for St Andrews and Fife as a whole, and to fully understand when these economic benefits might begin to become apparent.”