The Champagne corks are popping at Carnoustie Golf Links (pictured above) after it won the top award at the 2019 Scottish Golf Tourism Awards.
The Angus facility, which has played host to the Open Championship on eight occasions, was named ‘Scotland’s Best Golf Experience’ at the glittering bash, which took place at Fairmont St Andrews on October 31.
The event was the climax to the fourth annual Scottish Golf Tourism Week, staged by PSP Media Group and supported by VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise.
Carnoustie held off competition from Gleneagles, Trump Turnberry and the winner of the award in four of the last five years, Kingsbarns Golf Links. The ‘Best Experience’ gong was one of three awards won by Carnoustie Golf Links on the night. It also took home the prizes for Best Catering and Best Clubhouse.
Accepting the awards, Michael Wells, the chief executive of the Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee, said: “This means a huge amount to everybody at Carnoustie Golf Links. It’s truly a team effort. It’s not easy. It takes a lot of time, effort and dedication and that’s what my team has given over the last year.
I also want to say thank you to the industry. Scotland is a gift that we’ve been given. We’re custodians of that gift, to make sure that we can represent that in the best possible way to the rest of the world.”
The Scottish Golf Tourism Awards are determined solely by public vote. When voting closed at the end of September, a record 40,000 votes had been cast.
Meanwhile, Scottish Golf Tourism Week, which attracted more than 100 leading tour operators from across the world to experience Scotland’s diverse golf product, has become an integral part of the ambition drive to grow the value of the golf tourism industry in Scotland from £286m in 2016 to £300m by 2020.
Tom Lovering, the director of Scottish Golf Tourism Week, said: “Huge congratulations to Carnoustie Golf Links, which is an extremely worthy winner of the Scotland’s Best Golf Experience accolade. The investment made in the facility over the last few years – not to mention its hugely successful staging of the 2018 Open Championship – has cemented its place in the hearts of Scottish golfers and it fully deserves to have been recognised in this way. Indeed, all of this evening’s winners are worthy of their awards.
“I would also like to extend my thanks to all the businesses and tour operators who have come together from across the world to make Scottish Golf Tourism Week 2019 a huge success. The event is now firmly established as Scotland’s key golf tourism legacy event, showcasing the very best of the country’s golf product to a global audience and creating lasting benefits for the economy as a result.”
SCOTTISH GOLF TOURISM AWARDS WINNERS
Best Small Hotel (20 rooms or less) Old Loans Inn
Best Hotel (21 to 50 rooms) The Marcliffe Hotel
Best Large Hotel (50 rooms or more) Gleneagles Hotel
Best Catering Carnoustie Golf Links
Best Customer Service Kingsbarns Golf Links
Best Pro Shop Gullane
Best Clubhouse Carnoustie Golf Links
Best 9-Hole Course St Fillans
Best Course (Under £30) Troon (Darley)
Best Course (£31 to £60) Gullane (No.3)
Best Course (£61 to £100) The Duke’s
Best Course (£101 to £150) Panmure
Best Course (Over £150) Trump Turnberry (Ailsa Course)
Special Recognition Award Mark Rigg
Scotland’s Best Golf Experience 2019 Carnoustie Golf Links