Carnoustie looks all set to welcome a record number of visiting golfers during the 2006 season. Advance bookings are 77.5% higher than on the corresponding day the previous year while accumulated green fee revenue has risen by a staggering 90%.
“Advance bookings suggest that we are going to have an extremely busy 2006 season and the figures are all the more impressive because advance booking a year ago were pretty good too,” said Colin McLeod, the Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee’s golf services manager.
“The announcement that the 2007 Open Championship is to be played at Carnoustie has given us an enormous boost but I’d like to think that our decision to introduce a state-of-the-art on-line booking service and to peg the Championship course green fee just £105 (the lowest of all the Open venues) also have also increased advance sales.”
“I believe word of mouth is also an important factor,” added McLeod. “We received literally hundreds of compliments about the condition of all three of our courses during 2005 and word would seem to have spread.”
Carnoustie became the first Open Championship venue to offer a fully-automated on-line booking service for its premium course in early 2003 and it has proved to be an outstanding success with the number of bookings trebling since its launch.
The Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee’s decision to introduce a special combination ticket has also proved popular with visitors who want to spend a couple of days in the Angus town.
The combination ticket enables golfers to play all three of the town’s courses for £120 – just £15 more than the cost of a standard green fee on the Championship course. The only stipulation is that all three rounds have to be played in three consecutive days or less (including weekends).
“We introduced the new combination ticket in an effort to get visitors to stay in Carnoustie for a little bit longer and the initial response suggests it has worked well,” said McLeod. “Several people have bought combination tickets as presents for their relatives and a number of others have bought two combination tickets to use over five or six consecutive days.”
The new combination ticket entitles the purchaser to 18 holes on each of Carnoustie’s three courses. More information can be obtained from Colin McLeod, Carnoustie’s Golf Services Manager on 01241 417015 (colin@carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk)
Carnoustie www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk
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