Hoteliers call for inquiry into seventh course

Gordon Berry, The Courier, 29 August 2003

Members of the St Andrews Hotel and Guest House Association have lent their support to calls for a special economic impact study as part of the planning process for the proposed new seventh public golf course in the town.

President of the association, Dunvegan Hotel owner Jack Willoughby, said information from such a study was required before the body could come to a view on the issues involved.

Similar calls have already come from the general manager of the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort and Spa - which runs the Duke’s Course just outside town at Craigtoun - and from the director of golf at Kingsbarns.

Mr Willoughby said the proposals from St Andrews Links Trust had been discussed at length at committee level in the association.

For its part, the links trust described the comments being made as “extraordinary.”

Mr Willoughby said that it is felt quite strongly that the study, which would look at how other local businesses might be affected, should be carried out before such a “huge investment” is made.

“We feel there is much information lacking for our members to come to a conclusive decision and are somewhat surprised that a new course is required when in fact the total numbers of rounds played on the St Andrews links courses have risen by only 1% over the past five years. The numbers of rounds played on surrounding courses are also quite a bit down.

“Additionally, many of our members have suspicions that the new course will not be able to stand alone based on demand of local golfers. This demand has been the stated justification for the new course, but it is also clear from another set of figures that round numbers for visitors and R and A members have also risen by around 1% over the past five years.

“When we add 2003 into these numbers we expect the number of rounds will move this trend downwards.”

Mr Willoughby also expressed concern about the links trust policy of including other courses, such as the New and Jubilee, with golf packages that include a round on the Old Course.

“What is to stop the links trust, as a condition of playing the Old Course, from adding the seventh course to their commercially available tee tune packages, to help pay for the new course?

“Additionally, the links trust requires vouchers for food, drink, and merchandise to be purchased as a condition of these tee time packages.

“These vouchers - used by potentially well over 1000 four-balls - must be redeemed in their ‘charitable’ clubhouses, and this policy hurts many of our members. One must assume this policy could easily carry over into any seventh course package and into a third new clubhouse.

“If indeed this becomes the case, many of our members, who obviously have much experience in the golf tourism business, feel St Andrews will price itself out of the very competitive international visitor golf market."

Yesterday, however, the trust’s external relations manager, Peter Mason, said it seemed “extraordinary” that the hotel and guest house owners in St Andrews found the proposal to create a new, first-class golf course so unwelcome, especially as the trust was “planning it in order to protect the town’s existing golf tourism business.”