Crail Offer Overseas Life Membership

GTS Member, Crail Golfing Society in Scotland, is now introducing overseas membership for life for a single subscription of less than $4,000.

"Crail Golfing Society has always given a special welcome to overseas golfers," said Society Captain Alick Kubrycht. "Life membership provides an opportunity for golfers from all over the globe to become members of this ancient club and to play one of the world's greatest golfing gems for a modest one-off subscription."

The single subscription is £2,500. In return, the lifetime membership fee will entitle overseas members to eight rounds of golf every year in perpetuity. Members will be able to book these rounds up to one year in advance - and bring along golfing partners to take advantage of the eight guest rounds at nominal rates, which are included in the package. In an innovative move, the Society will link overseas members to local members, who will act as guides and "buddies."
Further features of the offer are a concierge service through the Club Manager for last-minute golf bookings on other courses in Scotland and some exclusive merchandise gifts.

Located only 12 miles from the world-famous St. Andrews courses, Crail Golfing Society was founded over two centuries ago, in 1786, and is a traditional Scottish golf club, owned and run by its members. The Society has two courses, Balcomie Links and Craighead Links.

Balcomie Links is renowned as one of the most interesting and testing courses in Scotland. It was redesigned in 1895 by the Old Tom Morris, and its 13th hole, a 217-yard par-3, which plays up a cliff to blind green, is said to be the inspiration for the hole played by Shivas Irons in Michael Murphy's famous book "Golf in the Kingdom." Craighead Links opened in 1998 and was designed by traditionalist golf course architect, Gil Hanse, to present challenging golf and take advantage of the magnificent views.

Demonstrating its confidence in the future, the Society started work in September on a new clubhouse to replace the current aging structure. Listed in Golf World as having one of the best five views in Scotland, the new clubhouse will occupy the same location as the existing building, offering panoramic views of the rocky shoreline and the courses.

"We have taken advantage of the recent change in the value of the dollar to launch this attractive life membership offer," said Kubrycht. "Additional revenue raised will contribute to the clubhouse remodeling costs, improving the facilities still further.

"As we are so close to St. Andrews, overseas members planning to make a trip to Scotland will have a clubhouse base available and rounds of golf for themselves and their friends, around which they can build their trip," he added. "With the Open Championship being at St. Andrews in 2010 and the Ryder Cup at Gleneagles, only an hour away, four years later, this is a good time to become a member at Crail. "We have recognized that visiting golfers often like to have some local help and knowledge on tap and our 'local friend' program provides just that."

There are 22 golf courses within 20 miles of Crail, including the St. Andrews Links courses - the Old, New, Jubilee, Eden and much-talked-about new Castle Course - Kingsbarns, Dukes, Torrance and Devlin, as well as the traditional Open Championship qualifying courses of Scotscraig, Lundin Links and Ladybank - where all Society members benefit from a 50 percent discount on green fees.

Details of the new Overseas Life Membership option can be found at www.crailgolfingsociety.co.uk or by telephoning the Club Manager on +44 (0)1333 450686.

Whisky and Style in Belgium

In order to coincide with the Gent, Whisky Festival, which takes place in February 2009, a new publication is being launched in Belgium to help promote a whole range of world class luxury goods and a fantastic range of whiskies. Whisky & Style is a glossy covering amongst other things – assorted gifts, top quality foods, travel and classy hotels. Golf will be specifically mentioned and linked to whisky. If you're looking for more information including rate card and exlcusive discounts visit the GTS Offers Page

Homecoming Scotland Whisky Month

Homecoming Scotland Whisky Month, May 2009

An opportunity to promote new Whisky activity to celebrate the Year of Homecoming

Throughout the year, but with a special focus on events in May, Homecoming Scotland is inviting visitors to experience one of Scotland’s greatest treasures – it’s Whisky.

The key aims of Whisky Month are to promote whisky tourism in Scotland and to encourage Homecoming Scotland visitors to experience Whisky activity during May 2009 and also throughout the year. Whisky Month builds on the existing cluster of festivals and activities in May creating a signature series of events and will be promoted by means of a distinctive marketing and publicity campaign in addition to the more general Homecoming campaign which encompasses all Homecoming events and activity.

VisitScotland would like to hear from industry members who wish to take advantage of the opportunity presented by Homecoming Scotland and get involved with Whisky Month.

In particular if you are promoting new Whisky activity during May 2009 or have packages that are relevant to the aims of Whisky Month e.g. activity and events in conjunction with neighbouring distilleries and visitor attractions offering a number of possible attractions for visitors.

Any golf operators or accommodation providers who could benefit from some free publicity by creating whisky related themes to programmes or short breaks? Visit the Homecoming Whisky page for a little more information

Notes of interest in Whisky Month should be registered with Homecoming Scotland by Wednesday 17th December to:

Cristina Armstrong

Project Coordinator
Whisky Month, Homecoming Scotland 2009
E: cristina.armstrong@eventscotland.org

£10M Plans Approved for St Andrews Hotel

According to The Herald, St Andrews Golf Hotel yesterday won unanimous approval from Fife Council to almost double its number of rooms to 40 with an extension at the back of the hotel, and also build an underground car park.

Leisure chain Hotel du Vin, which bought the St Andrews Golf Hotel in January this year said the hotel will help safeguard the 60 jobs currently in place and create up to 30 new jobs. The plans include the retention of traditional elements of the hotel including the student bar Ma Bells, the facade will be retained, while other new additions include an external courtyard and bistro.

Read the Herald Article

Fife Council looks for golf partners

Fife Council is seeking partners to incorporate into its presence at the 2009 Open Championship at Turnberry.

As the host council for the 2010 championship it is allocated exhibit space in the tented village next year. Its main marketing remit for the presence at Turnberry is to drive visitors to the Open Championship in 2010 and gain bookings throughout the area for that period. It is therefore looking for GTS members to promote suitable golfing and accommodation packages that can be promoted within its marketing materials on the stand and website etc.

Packages should cover a variety of budgets and comprise accommodation, rounds of golf, Open tickets or anything different or of interest (i.e. places to eat/things to do). The council is open to ideas and would like to hear from interested potential partners. This is an excellent opportunity for all parties involved to showcase Fife and the opportunities for visitors. There is no charge for GTS members to have their packages included in the aggregated piece of print and website material, so this is therefore a free opportunity to promote any programmes you may be working on for 2010.

If you are interested or would like more information contact Abbie Jessop, Marketing & Communications Officer in the Development Services department of Fife Council.

Telephone 08451 55 55 55 then extension 44 67 94 or email abbie.jessop@fife.gov.uk

Five Star Resort for The Borders

According to the national press "Scotland's tourism industry has been given a huge shot in the arm" with the approval of plans for a major golf resort in the Scottish Borders.
Work is sceduled to start within months on the five-star complex, which aims to emulate the success of Gleneagles and Cameron House, after councillors voted to back the £50 million project.
The Scotsman report that the 150-room hotel, leisure club, restaurant and conference centre will be built next to the existing Rutherford Castle Golf Club, in Peebles-shire, which its new owners want to become Scotland's latest championship course.
It is expected to be transformed after the hotel is up and running at the end of 2010 and it is hoped the complex will attract about 100,000 visitors a year.
Manor Kingdom Estates, the property developer which has joined forces with De Vere on the West Linton scheme, has pledged it will create the first "truly world-class" resort in the Borders. Mark Cummings, a spokesman, said: "We believe our hotel will represent what the Scottish Borders aspires to offer its locals and its visitors over and above the mainstream available in central Scotland and that the Scottish Borders, if not Scotland as a whole, will benefit from this investment and new employment opportunities."
A spokesman for VisitScotland, which says Scottish golf tourism is worth about £300 million, said: "This is excellent news for the Scottish Borders. Capital investment and market positioning as a quality destination are vitally important to the tourism industry, with this project addressing both of these important drivers for success."
Full article at The Scotsman

VisitScotland Drive it Home Offer to GTS Members

VisitScotland is now inviting the golf tourism sector to sign up to the “Drive It Home” promotion.
The promotion will be run during 2009 and target golfers worldwide. There will be a specific golf consumer campaign in both the USA and Sweden, while other markets will utilise PR, trade and direct marketing via various organisations’ databases. Whilst true that GTS expressed concerns about the promotional planning process in the early stages we have been involved in shaping the detail over the past few months and therefore encourage all members to support the promotion as fully as they feel able to.
How can you get involved? Three websites have been developed by VS for travel deals and will cover the North American market, Sweden and the Rest of World. Offers will appear on all three websites, unless a participant specifies otherwise, and they fall into the following categories:
1. Tour operator packages.
2. Accommodation.
3. Car Hire.
4. Things to See and Do – visitor attractions, whisky distilleries, restaurants etc.
If you are interested, please complete the attached booking form and return it, plus an image or logo, to Tara Baker at VisitScotland by Monday 8th December. There is NO CHARGE for GTS members to have their offers included on the websites (non-members will pay a minimum of £30.00). We will send an updated membership list to VS by 8th December, so they can cross-reference it with any applications. Unfortunately, if your GTS membership subscription is overdue at that time then you will be unable to take advantage of the free listing.