Links booking system comes under fire

Anita Rogan, The Citizen, 2 February 2001

St Andrews Links Trust was accused of “driving another nail into the coffin of local golfers” this week.

The body has been criticised by St Andrews man, William Bald, who claims the Trust’s decision to set up the GoIfAgent Internet booking system will make it even harder for locals to play a round on the Links.

He explained: “If you live in the United States, Japan or South Africa, for example, you can now book a tee-time on the Eden, Jubilee or Strathtyrum courses weeks in advance using the Internet, provided you pay a booking fee of £4.

“If, however, you are unfortunate enough to live in St Andrews you can only book a tee-time on the Eden and Jubilee courses the day before, or seven days in advance, on the Strathtyrum.

“Guess what is going to happen in the summer weather when the courses are in their best playing condition? You’ve guessed it, you will find it increasingly difficult, if not impossible, to find a tee-time on any of these courses”.

Mr Bald, a member of the St Andrews Golf Club, added: “I wonder how much the people of St Andrews or the surrounding area were consulted before launching into this latest initiative to attract even more outside golfers onto the Links?”

However, Links Trust’s External Relations Manager, Peter Mason, replied: “golfagent.com, which was pioneered by the Links Trust, is an alternative way for golfers to reserve a small number of times via the internet on the Jubilee, Eden and Strathtyrum courses.

“Times on GolfAgent that are not taken up are automatically returned to the day ahead booking system.

“Local golfers and season ticket holders are allocated preferential times every day and last year played more golf than ever before in the history of the Links. No local times can be booked using golfagent.com.”

However, Mr Bald remained unconvinced: “The real question is, how many tee-times in total is the GolfAgent system going to take up?

“Already, it can be extremely difficult to get on these courses before three or four o’ clock in the afternoon during the summer, and this system is going to exacerbate the situation.

“It would appear that St Andrews Links Trust has successfully driven another nail in the coffin of local golfers.”

This article was the lead article in the printed version of the Citizen, but for some reason it was not reproduced in the online edition.