The R&A has announced that is to create a new, purpose-built base for its staff in St Andrews so that they can all work under one roof.
The majority of the governing body’s staff in the UK currently occupy five buildings around St Andrews, including the iconic R&A clubhouse, as well as at the equipment testing centre at Kingsbarns.
The location of the new offices will be at the St Andrews West development, a mile south-west of the R&A clubhouse. The design work and the planning process is expected to completed by mid-2024, with the final move set to take place in early 2026.
St Andrews West is a mixed-use development which has planning permission for almost 1,000 new homes, as well as for offices and university buildings.
Currently, R&A media staff are working out of offices above the St Rule building to the right of the 18th fairway of the Old Course. Rules and handicapping officials are in the former Ladies Golf Union building on the Scores behind the R&A clubhouse. And a few other departments are to be found in Beach House and Forgan House behind and to the immediate right of the 18th green.
According to a release to local media, “the acquisition will give the R&A the opportunity to begin developing plans for the new building and to establish a project timescale.”
In a further release to R&A members, club secretary and R&A chief executive Martin Slumbers said, “a number of options were considered and when this land became available, most importantly it met the criteria of being firmly in St. Andrews, within sight of the Links and with the opportunity to create purpose-built facilities that reflect our role in golf.”
He added: “This is an exciting development for the future of the organisation. We will create a location that will showcase the work of the R&A, reflect our status, our heritage and be a collaborative space that employees and visitors will enjoy. We want to become known throughout the world as a distinctive destination for our affiliates and partners, effectively the hub of the R&A’s global work to ensure golf is thriving 50 years from now. The clubhouse will, of course, retain its own iconic status in golf.”
Separate to these plans, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club has embarked on an extension to its clubhouse, which will see more space allocated to enhanced changing rooms. The project will see the locker room in the basement of the building extended under the adjacent club car park and to the north of the building to provide enhanced changing and shower facilities, as well as other improvements to services available to the club’s 2,400 members.
The work is scheduled to be completed by the beginning of 2024 and will result in some changes to public access in the area around the clubhouse during the period of construction. In addition, the clubhouse will be closed while the work is carried out and members will use the nearby Forgan House.