The Scotsman Bulletin Tuesday March 18 2025 #Golf

The Scotsman

Dale speaks top Scotsman investigations correspondent, Martyn McLaughlin, about his series on the business of golf in Scotland

Transcript

00:00Hello and welcome to the Scotsman's video bulletin for this Tuesday.

00:06My name is Dale Miller.

00:07I'm deputy editor of the Scotsman and I'm joined by our investigations correspondent,

00:12Martin McLaughlin.

00:13Martin, we're going to get into the serious business of golf and the money around golf.

00:19But before we talk about that, I just want to speak about the front page of today's Scotsman.

00:26We led on pressure and calls for an 11th hour U-turn on cutbacks to benefits.

00:32So at the point we're recording this, the minister has not stood yet,

00:37but there will be some announcements to be made today around an overhaul of the benefits system.

00:43You may ask, given Scotland's own benefits system, significant parts of it are devolved,

00:48what it actually means for you watching here.

00:50Well, there will be a knock on impact because it will also mean some spending cuts

00:55to the Scottish government's budget, most likely, and also some tough decisions

01:00for the government here in Holyrood to make by turn on how they cover those costs.

01:07Do they make some cuts in and around the benefits system here?

01:11Do they make savings elsewhere?

01:13There will be significant pressure out of this.

01:16There will also be a narrative about what it means for the UK Labor government

01:21and its polling.

01:22There was a clear message about wanting to move away from austerity and does taking

01:27some of these steps work against that?

01:30That was certainly a key message from Sir Keir Starmer

01:33and his government heading into the election last year.

01:35So, again, interesting choices being made by this national government.

01:40We wait to see what the Scottish government may do as well.

01:42You can read all the very latest on that at scotsman.com.

01:45I also want to talk about, Martin, why we've got you on here,

01:50which is the golf series.

01:52It's called Scorecard the Business in Golf.

01:55It's a six-part series that you've spent a considerable amount

02:00of time putting together.

02:01The first two parts were around Carnoustie.

02:04Can you touch on what we've covered so far and just why you decided

02:08to tackle this as a series?

02:10Yeah, thanks, Neil.

02:12You know, Scotland is the home of golf, and I think since the pandemic

02:17we've seen a huge upturn in interest in Scotland's famous courses,

02:23not least the amount of people coming over to play.

02:27The US market has always been a kind of major draw for Scotland's

02:31big flagship courses, but over the past five years

02:34that has really exploded.

02:36So, you know, we're fortunate to live in a country where some

02:40of our publicly owned assets are some of the biggest sporting venues

02:44anywhere in the world.

02:45We have multiple Open Championship venues, one of which is Carnoustie,

02:51and that has undergone quite interesting changes

02:54over the past few months.

02:56It's been a publicly owned asset since the 19th century,

03:01owned by Angus Council and its predecessors.

03:04But there's been changes at the course whereby a consortium

03:08of private investors are now effectively running it day to day.

03:12They're in charge of investing at Carnoustie, and in turn,

03:16they receive all the income from Carnoustie.

03:19The reasons for that are quite complex, but also quite simple

03:23to understand.

03:24If the course wants to host the Open again, the R&A feels that it needs

03:30to make some significant investments.

03:32The course itself is still, you know, a world-class course.

03:36It's still highly renowned, but it's the infrastructure surrounding it.

03:39It's the hotel, it's the visitor experience, it's the concessions,

03:43all these kind of infrastructural addendums to the course

03:48that R&A feels have to be improved.

03:51Now, Angus Council, like so many other Scottish councils,

03:55doesn't have a great deal of spare cash lying around.

03:58So its view is that by involving these investors,

04:02it is the best way to driving capital into Carnoustie.

04:06Now, the existing arrangement lasts until 2033, but crucially,

04:12the investors are pushing to ensure that arrangement lasts even longer.

04:17They want a deal until the mid-22nd century, until the year 2123.

04:23And I think that's raised quite serious concerns in and around Carnoustie

04:27about how this great Scottish sporting icon could effectively

04:31be privatised, and there are lots of questions around the consortium

04:36and what their plans are and exactly how much they want to invest.

04:40Martin, obviously, the first two parts are focused on Carnoustie.

04:44You had, obviously, that century-long deal.

04:47That's a huge amount of time.

04:49If you think you and I, unfortunately,

04:51probably won't be sitting here by the time that comes to an end.

04:54But also about the investors involved in that,

04:56their backstory is fascinating.

04:58But we're going to move a bit beyond just that one course

05:01throughout the series, aren't we?

05:02So can you talk about just the overall scope of what we're covering?

05:06Yeah, absolutely.

05:07I mean, as well as looking at Carnoustie,

05:09I've been having a look at some other kind of well-known courses.

05:13There's going to be a few stories looking at St Andrews,

05:16which is arguably the jewel in the crown of Scottish golf.

05:20There's a lot of kind of interesting tensions and changes

05:23around the way the courses are run there.

05:26So that's going to be something I'm looking at.

05:29But also I'm going to be having a deeper dive

05:32into the actual day-to-day business plans

05:35that golf clubs have in Scotland.

05:37As I mentioned earlier,

05:38there's been a huge upturn in US tourists coming.

05:42And a lot of courses and clubs are really capitalising on that.

05:46But I'll be looking at whether that is a sustainable business model

05:50and what the future holds for those clubs

05:53who are maybe a tier or two below on the rung.

05:57We've seen several closures already in the past few months.

06:01And the outlook isn't exactly positive for a lot of those courses,

06:05which perhaps aren't as globally renowned as the likes of Carnoustie.

06:09So that's something that will be explored in depth

06:12as part of the series.

06:14You can read the first two parts in the series at scotsman.com

06:18as we discuss the cover Carnoustie.

06:21We'll be featuring the series on our website throughout the week

06:25and in a series of daily newsletters that we put out.

06:28If you are interested in getting those newsletters,

06:31just follow the relevant newsletter tabs.

06:34You can sign up for not just our daily newsletter,

06:36also our politics newsletter, The Steamy.

06:39And over the next week or so,

06:40we're expanding our weekly arts newsletter

06:43to bring you two editions a week,

06:46including one from Jane Bradley

06:48and one around reviews produced by a key member of our staff,

06:52Roger Cox.

06:53That full series from Martin, as I say,

06:55will be on the site throughout the week.

06:57You'll also be able to read each part at Scotsman,

07:01sorry, in the print edition of The Scotsman.

07:04Please go out and pick up a copy.

07:05The focus squarely on St Andrews and the old course tomorrow.

07:10So please go and pick up a copy and follow us on all social channels.

07:14Martin, thank you to you.

07:15Thanks to everyone else for joining us.

07:17Thanks to you.

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