Brownhills site will meet golfing demand

The Courier, 30 September 2003

St Andrews Links Trust looked at two sites close to the existing six public golf courses in the town ore choosing land on an elevated site on the opposite side of the community in their bid to build a seventh course.

Plans for the two closer sites foundered partly because one of the landowners involved wanted to enter into a “joint venture” with the trust, an arrangement ruled out by a top legal adviser.

All this has been made clear in an environmental statement accompanying the trust’s newly submitted planning application for the creation of a new golf course, clubhouse, maintenance and practice facilities on land at Brownhills and Kinkell.

There has already been considerable local debate about the proposals, but the trust has made a detailed case for the need for a new course, and has said in the statement that over the past 10 years there has been a significant rise in the demand for golf nationally.

St Andrews, it is said, has been at the forefront of that growth, and there is no indication to suggest that it will not continue despite the short-term impact of recent world events.

In addition, it is claimed, the population of St Andrews has risen significantly while there has been a “dramatic” growth at the university, with more residents of the town and students playing golf.

“If current growth projections are borne out the trust will not be able to meet its obligations to local players while meeting the ever increasing demand from visitors to play at the home of golf.

“Demand from golfers continues to increase, not only from those countries whose golfers have traditionally played St Andrews, but increasingly from newer golfing nations - whose golfers are keen to discover their golfing roots.”

The statement points out that the trustees decided in 1998 that a new course was required and that possible sites were looked at.

The first of these formed part of Strathtyrum Estate which lies close to the links on the south side of the main A91 close to the western edge of the town.

It was thought that a good course could be constructed there, said the trust, but discussions foundered because the estate would not make available a sufficient area of the land considered to be most suitable.

In addition, the estate would not consider an outright sale, and had indicated that some form of joint venture would be preferred.

The statement makes it clear that the second option looked at involved some land at Strathtyrum and some on the adjacent Easter Kincaple farm but this also proved unworkable.

The Strathtyrum proprietor had still been keen that any arrangement should involve a joint venture, and in addition the new course would be “somewhat ordinary.”