Well,
well, well! A Scottish golf venue has launched an exciting new
initiative that will see green fees slashed for Scottish golfers and
guess what? It is providing the chance to play what is arguably the
world’s most-famous course for just over £40.
No,
your eyes are not deceiving you. That’s how much it will cost some
lucky Scots to tee it up on the Old Course at St Andrews, venue of a
record 31 Open Championships, as part of Drive, which has been unveiled by St Andrews Links Trust to “widen access to its iconic courses”.
Between May and October this year, a total of 179 tee times on offer
through the Links Trust’s booking process are being made available at a
reduced rate for “golf enthusiasts who live in Scotland” and aimed at
people who “love golf, play golf and haven’t had the chance to play golf
in St Andrews”.
It means that 716 golfers will get the opportunity to play four of the
Links Trust’s seven courses - the Old, Castle, Jubilee and Eden - at a
staggering 87.5 per cent reduction on the regular high-season green
fees.
So,
instead of £340 for the Old Course, it will be £42.50 while the cost
for the Castle Course will be £22.50 as opposed to £180 for an adult and
£90 for someone under 16. Instead of £150 for an adult and £75 for
under-16s, it will be just £18.75 for the Jubilee Course and £9.50 for
the Eden Course rather than £75 and £38.
“As
the Home of Golf, St Andrews Links Trust takes its responsibility to
the sport incredibly seriously,” said chief executive Neil Coulson of
what is one of the most eye-catching announcements in the game in terms
of green fees being reduced for a long time.
“That
is why we are so excited to launch a new initiative offering golfers
across Scotland the opportunity to play our historic and iconic courses
at a lower price. Widening access to golf is a key objective for us, and
over the coming years we hope we can continue to provide opportunities
to golfers of all ages and abilities.”
Make
no mistake, this really is something that should be applauded,
especially for those who will get the opportunity to walk in the
footsteps of the game’s greats on the Old Course, with the first stage
of the project seeing 11 tee times made available for it on 21 May.
Just
think about it. Someone who previously might have had to be content
with a game of putting on the Himalayas, home of the St Andrews Ladies
Putting Club, because of the normal cost for the Old Course and also, of
course, the huge demand for tee times on it will now enjoy a fairytale
experience at one of the sport’s cathedrals.
“Golf
has become increasingly popular in recent years and with this demand
for our courses has surged to unprecedented levels,” added Coulson, who
took up the reins of the charitable trust in 2021 and has certainly put
his own stamp on the post. “We will continue to ensure that our ticket
holders (locals gain access to all seven of the Links Trust’s courses
for just £386 through an annual ticket) and visitors have the best
experience possible, while ensuring that one of the country’s most
precious golfing assets is available for the public, too.”
Scottish-based golfers are being offered the opportunity to putt out on
the 18th green on the Old Course for the first time through the Drive
initiative launched by St Andrews Links Trust | St Andrews Links Trust
It
has to be pointed out, of course, that the Links Trust can afford to
offer discounted rounds. In 2023, it brought in an all-time high total
incoming of £43.8 million, with net income of £11.4m whereas the
corresponding figure a decade earlier had been a modest £900,000. Though
helped by an increase in merchandising sales, the main factor for that
huge upturn is the sheer number of rounds rising from 213,086 to 283,032
in that period.
In short, golf is booming in St Andrews, though not everyone is happy. As highlighted in ‘Scorecard: The Business of Golf’, The Scotsman’s
recent series scrutinising the finances underpinning the game, a
newly-formed group known as the St Andrews Resident Golf Association
(STARGA) has expressed concern that an emphasis on increasing revenues
may be subverting the original intention of the legislation for the
Links Trust being established in 1974.
Its
members believe the total number of visitor rounds increasing by 49 per
cent from 2009 to 2023 is disproportionate and that the courses are
“overplayed”, but no-one can surely voice any discontent about the Links
Trust trying to “buck the trend” when it comes to green fees, albeit
for a limited number, and, moreover, allowing Scottish golfers to be the
beneficiaries.
According
to a study conducted by UK Golf Guy, a popular account on X, the
average green fee at a selection of top 20 venues in the UK has
increased by 105 per cent between 2015 and 2025. The figure was £182 in
2015, but, a decade later, that has jumped to £374.
At
North Berwick, for example, the cost of a green fee has risen by 185
per cent from £100 to £285 while other big jumps were highlighted at
Royal Dornoch (167 per cent from £120 to £320, Trump Turnberry (120 per
cent from £250 to £600) and Trump International Golf Links (130 per cent
from £215 to £495). At Trump Turnberry, meanwhile, a round on the Ailsa
Course has been hiked to £1,000 this year for non-hotel residents
before 1pm.
Let’s
not beat about the bush. Some of those figures are eye-watering, but,
in fairness, they’ve been set due to the fact most foreign visitors here
expect to pay that sort of money at top-class venues around the world
and they’d be wary if Scottish courses were considerably cheaper.
It
also should be noted, of course, that lots of the top venues around the
country offer local resident and/or Scottish resident rates, so what
the Links Trust is doing isn’t necessarily a ground-breaking step.
But,
at a time when the spotlight is well and truly on the sport after Rory
McIlroy became just the sixth player to complete a career grand slam
after landing his dramatic Masters win, hats off to St Andrews for doing
something that shows Scots still matter and rightly so.
