The Courier & Advertiser (Perth and Perthshire Edition)
‘No readmissions’ policy to remain for the Open
golf: R&A refuses to bow to pressure from Carnoustie traders
The R&A will not backtrack on its planned “no readmissions” policy for the Open at Carnoustie but local clubs will be “on site” for the duration of the championship, chief executive Martin Slumbers revealed yesterday.
Clubs directly adjacent to the course in Links Parade will be inside the security zone for the championship allowing members to use their club houses freely for the entire week from within the championship boundaries, he said.
However, the R&A’s battle against “unofficial” hospitality they feel is eroding the Open experience for ticket-holders means they will not reconsider the policy introduced at Royal Birkdale that stopped fans exiting and re-entering the course after they have entered for the first time.
That policy has provoked irate complaints from traders in Carnoustie and a petition campaign led by Simpson’s Golf Shop owner David Valentine.
The dispute initially included the clubs closest to the course – the Carnoustie Golf Club, Carnoustie Caledonia Golf Club, and Carnoustie Ladies Golf Club.
Confirming the Open will come to St Andrews in 2021, Mr Slumbers said yesterday the clubs would be part of the Open site – within the security zone – because of their importance to the Open.
“At Carnoustie, the clubs are so important to our staging of the Open,” he said.
“Many of their members are volunteering to work at the championship. They’re important to the ambience.
“Actually the clubs are, in effect, inside the course for this no readmission, so you’ll be able to go in and out of your club if you’re a member, because they are so important to us to make this all work.”
Mr Slumbers said he “fully supported” the letter distributed by Carnoustie councillor David Cheape which pleaded with traders to look at “the bigger picture”.
“The Open brings about £100 million of value to the region in that week and a half that we are there,” he continued.
“Most importantly, the playing of the Open at Carnoustie brings people to play the course and to stay in the town or in Dundee, to eat, to buy, go shopping if they wish to, for decades afterwards.
“I think that’s the big picture, and we have to make sure that we keep to that while making sure that we deliver a fantastic championship that makes golf proud and Carnoustie proud.”