The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
Locals hit back over Open claims
Golf club chief under fire for ‘town can’t cope’ comments
Local residents have rounded on Carnoustie Golf Club chief Bill Thompson after he claimed the Open was a “corporate machine” and the town was “not built for 40,000 or 50,000” spectators.
The criticism sparked fears that the multi-millionpound event would be driven away from the town in future after Carnoustie’s 11-year wait for its return.
Local councillors were quick to react, with one demanding that Mr Thompson “apologise to the town” for his comments, while another said the first day of play had been “marred” by the episode.
Michael Wells, Carnoustie Golf Links chief executive, defended the event saying: “The images of the world’s top golfers, such as Tiger and Rory, playing a sun-drenched Carnoustie today are being broadcast to hundreds of millions of households around the world.
“That is incredibly valuable exposure for the course as well as the town and will attract many, many more golfing visitors to come to Carnoustie in the years ahead.”
Residents have hit back at comments from Carnoustie Golf Club captain Bill Thompson, who told the BBC the town was “not built for 40,000 or 50,000” and that the modern Open Championship was run “as a corporate machine”.
Mr Thompson highlighted road closures, parking issues and the loss of playing time on the course and added that “for the first time, we’ve actually seen pieces of the golf course torn up for corporate hospitality tents.”
The claims sparked fears that the Open would not return to the town but R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers pointed out that a few weeks’ disruption was of “huge value to Carnoustie as a golf course and as a town for decades to come”.
Residents were dismayed by the claims.
Independent councillor Brian Boyd said: “Having known Bill and supported him along with the Carnoustie Golf Club for many years as local councillor, I find his comments disappointing.
“Many golfing friends have contacted me and are most annoyed at what he has said, one going as strongly as to say he’s lost the plot.
“Rumours are rife that he has written to members apologising but he should also be apologising to our town.
“It’s ridiculous to say the town can’t cope.
“Everything is running extremely smoothly, with the 180,000 visitors arriving and leaving very easily at possibly the most accessible course in Scotland”
Councillor David Cheape said: “Carnoustie is immensely proud to host the 147th Open Championship this year.
“It has taken an extraordinary amount of preparation to deliver one of the world’s most important sporting events at one of the world’s most iconic golf courses.
“Having spoken with Carnoustie residents and,indeed, members of Carnoustie Golf Club, it is tremendously disappointing that the first day of play of the Open has been marred by the negative views that we have seen reported in the national press.
“With the first day of play under way, I think it is important to note that there has not been a single email in my inbox from any Carnoustie residents complaining that the Open is somehow too big for the town, or that the short inconvenience is not worth the tremendous economic benefits that the town, and indeed the county reap from hosting this incredible spectacle.”
Resident Suzi Caesar accused Mr Thompson of being “detached from the 21st Century” and said his comments were “not representative of the town’s views and capabilities.”
She added: “We have demonstrated we are a town that embraces global events and can accommodate them. Golf underpins our local economy and without it we’d be a very different town.”
Mr Thompson declined to comment. jimillar@thecourier.co.uk
With the Scottish Open last week, the Open at Carnoustie this week and the Senior Open at St Andrews next week, the eyes of the golfing world are on Scotland with significant boosts expected for the economy.
But does the buzz surrounding these high profile international events mask a more fundamental problem facing Scottish golf clubs amid recent reports of dwindling memberships and some clubs struggling to survive?
Recent figures from KPMG certainly suggest so.
According to the Golf Participation Report for Europe 2017 published last autumn, the number of registered golfers in Scotland fell by more than 6,000 from 2015 to 2016 with the home of golf losing more golfers than any other country in Europe.
Statistics showed there were 192,533 registered golfers in Scotland in 2016, a fall of 6,711 (3.37%) from the 199,244 recorded a year earlier. In comparison to other European countries, only the Czech Republic – a fall of 2,034 – lost more than 2,000 golfers.
Scotland also lost 19 courses during the same period – the most of any European country. The home of golf now has 578 courses, with an average of 333 registered golfers per course.
The impact of Scotland’s drink-drive laws, pressure on people’s time and a ‘stuffy’ image problem have all been blamed for the challenges facing the game.
Dalhousie Golf Club captain Donald Ford, 73, says memberships at the Carnoustie club – currently celebrating its 150th anniversary – are holding up well. The former professional footballer puts the club’s fortunate financial circumstances down to the club no longer having its own clubhouse or staff – instead operating out of Carnoustie Golf Hotel.
However, he says there are a number of issues that clubs in general need to tackle if they are to survive.
A priority, he says, is attracting – and retaining – more youngsters. He says the work PGA professional Keir Mcnicoll is doing with juniors at Carnoustie Golf Links is a shining example of what can be done.
However, he believes many golf club committees need to “work harder” to engage with their communities and schools in the face of so many other leisure opportunities open to young people nowadays – including computer games.
Other challenges facing clubs, he says, include a general lack of money for long-term investment; the tightening up of drink-drive laws and their impact on golfers socialising after games; more men putting their families first at weekends than in decades gone by (something which he adds is a good thing!) and financial constraints meaning more club work is done by volunteers rather than paid staff.
Ian Cook, 55, clubhouse manager at Ballumbie Castle Golf Course on the outskirts of Dundee, took over the clubhouse franchise in April.
Quashing speculation that the 18-hole club was about to sell off holes for housing and scale back to a ninehole course, he said the club , with its 350 members – including 35 juniors – was in a “good place”. However, he said the drink-drive laws did have a massive impact on many clubs. Ballumbie was “very lucky”, he said, because it has a public house licence with non-golfers accounting for around 50% of its trade.
“When the drink-drive laws came in I was running the catering at Carnoustie Golf Club, and in the first six months there was a £25,000 drop in turnover,”
It’s costing more to get a higher standard of facility which fewer people are coming to enjoy
said the former Anglers Inn, Guildtown, co-owner. “People would drive home and go to their ‘local’ after a game of golf instead of hanging about the club. So it wasn’t just affecting the bar, it was also affecting the kitchen.
“We are lucky we get a lot of nongolfers coming into the bar here. I think that kind of diversification is the way forward.”
At Cupar, which boasts the world’s oldest nine-hole golf club, captain Hugh Ironside, 52, is hopeful that the recent appointment of a new clubhouse/bar franchisee Craig Trewern will encourage more golfers – and nongolfers – to the club, and attract more visitors.
However, with 200 playing members, and despite very good recruitment, the club has a high annual turnover and the challenge from increasing numbers of so-called “nomadic” golfers who float between clubs depending on the best deals.
A key for the future, says Hugh, will be trying to make the clubhouse more of a community facility.
“The three reasons memberships are declining are elderly members getting too old and dying off, junior members coming and going as their peer group fluctuates, and in this area, access to the St Andrews Links tickets giving relatively cheap access to seven St Andrews courses taking away a lot of the serious golfers,” said Hugh.
“I think the golfer nowadays expects higher quality courses – but that has an impact on cost, machinery and labour which goes up all the time.
“It’s costing more to get a higher standard of facility which fewer people are coming to enjoy.”
The Golf Foundation – a charity which supports Scottish Golf – will be announcing 87 projects aimed at young golfers during an event at Monifieth Golf Club tomorrow.