New golf course

Letter to Editor, The Citizen, 8 August 2003

Colin McAllister, St Andrews

“Whom the gods would destroy they first make mad.” So the Links Trust want to spend £6.7m on a new golf course. The designer of the golf course has already made his name in the USA, so no doubt it will be a first class course. But do we in St Andrews really need it? I think any rational examination of the facts must produce the answer ‘No’. Where is the money coming from? As I do not know, let me suppose two extremes, within which the answer must undoubtedly lie.

Suppose the Links Trust already has the money. Then the new course is unnecessary, since the Links Trust is a non-profit making charity, and it should therefore return any surplus funds via more starting times for locals. I suggest a total ban on visitors before 8 a.m. and after 4 p.m. on all courses. This would give the locals a chance to play their courses which they at present are denied.

Alternatively, the Links Trust may not have the money. Suppose it borrows £6.7m at five per cent interest. This amounts to £335,000 interest per annum, not counting repayment of principal at say 10 per cent per annum of £670,000 i.e. an amount of approximately £1m per annum. At a price of £105 a round this comes down to about 10,000 rounds a year on the Old Course. (I choose the best case scenario - in terms of rounds on the other courses the opportunity cost is much higher). Taking a six month season of 24 weeks and a six days a week, this is 69 rounds on the Old Course per day, before excluding days not available because of the Links Trophy, Dunhill Cup and other events. Now, of course, the Links Trust may not have to borrow all the money, so the true figure may be less than 69 rounds or 17 starting times per day. Some may think this is a small price to pay.

Consider now the running cost as well as the capital cost. This new course is unlikely to have much play in the winter months owing to its location and the nature of its soil, so it may well lose money. Also it is not difficult to imagine a scenario in which the Links Trust ask local golf clubs to transfer some of their competitions to the new course, so that visitors can have more access to the Old and New Courses. Where is the benefit to locals there?

I ask local opinion to consider two philosophical matters. Firstly Occam’s Razor - things should not be multiplied beyond necessity - in other words, take the simplest and most direct course of action. On this basis, if the Links Trust has the money, then give locals more access to their courses - this after all was the purpose of the Links Act. The new course is thus, unnecessary and undesirable.

Furthermore, over-expansion in times of boom is one of the most common causes of bankruptcy, as the present and enduring worldwide recession amply demonstrates. Alternatively, if the Links Trust does not have the money, the cost to locals of the new course in terms of rounds foregone on the existing courses is unacceptable.