Kingsbarns Golf Links in Fife has been declared the ‘golfers favourite’ after scooping the top prize of Best Experience at the fifth annual Scottish Golf Tourism Awards, as voted by golfers throughout Scotland. The 2018 Scottish Golf Tourism Awards Gala Dinner was attended by more than 400 guests from across the Scottish golf scene at Fairmont St Andrews last night (Thursday November 1st).
The glittering event, hosted by renowned Scottish golf broadcaster Dougie Donnelly, was the culmination of the third annual Scottish Golf Tourism Week, organised by PSP Media Group and supported by VisitScotland and Scottish Enterprise. There were 14 awards in total, chosen by voters from across the industry.
As well as taking the award for Best Experience – an award the course has won four times since 2014 – Kingsbarns Golf Links also took the coveted Best Customer Service Award.
The Old Loans Inn, a four-star boutique hotel near Troon, was named as the Best Hotel Under 20 Rooms for the second consecutive year. The elegant Murrayshall Country House Hotel & Golf Club won the Best Hotel 21-50 Rooms award whilst Fairmont St Andrews, host venue Scottish Golf Tourism Week 2018, won in the Best Hotels Over 50 Rooms category. Trump Turnberry took the award for Best Pro Shop.
The focus stayed firmly on Fife’s east coast during the night, with the award for Best Clubhouse going to St Andrews Links Castle Course.
Gleneagles, which won the Best Experience Award in 2017, picked up the award for Best Catering.
There were three prizes for courses that offered Value for Money. Fortrose and Rosemarkie Golf Club on the Black Isle peninsula won in the under £50 category, the Dukes Course in St Andrews won in the £50-£100 group and Trump International Golf Links was deemed best value in the over £100 award.
Pitlochry Golf Club won the award for Best Course Under £50. Crail Balcome Links, laid out by Tom Morris, Golf Course in Ayrshire, took the prize for Best Course £50-£100 whilst Carnoustie Golf Links, host venue for The Open 2018, was chosen as the Best Course over £100.
There was a second Award for Carnoustie on the night, with the Special Recognition Award for Services to Golf Tourism in Scotland being awarded to Pat Sawers, Chair of Carnoustie Golf Links, for outstanding service and commitment to the Scottish golf tourism industry.
Scottish Golf Tourism Week, which attracted more than 90 leading buyers from across the world to experience Scotland’s diverse golf product, comes as the industry pursues ambitions to grow the value of the golf tourism industry in Scotland from £286m in 2016 to £300m by 2020.
Tom Lovering, director of Scottish Golf Tourism Week, said: “Enormous congratulations to Kingsbarns Golf Links, which has once again demonstrated its ability to deliver a consistently exceptional golf experience and has taken our top award for the fourth time. All of the winners tonight are highly worthy of their accolades. 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 2018 such a resounding success. SGTW is now firmly established as Scotland’s key golf tourism legacy event, showcasing the very best of Scotland’s golf product to a global audience and creating lasting benefits for Scotland’s economy as a result.”
Malcolm Roughead, Chief Executive of VisitScotland, said: “I’m delighted to see award winners from right across the country, which goes to underline how outstanding the outstanding strength in depth of the Scottish golf tourism product. All of the award winners deserve huge congratulations on their success, as do all of the businesses who have taken part in Scottish Golf Tourism Week in 2018. With golf tourism playing a vital part of Scotland’s visitor economy it is vital that our tourism businesses continue to strive to deliver excellent customer service and keep these visitors coming back to Scotland, the Home of Golf, year after year.”
VisitScotland www.visitscotland.com
PSP Media Group http://www.pspmediagroup.co.uk/
Top picture All winners at the Scottish Golf Tourism Awards 2018