Herb Kohler opts against the Trump approach as he vows not to tread on toes with plans for Hamilton Hall

Published on Wednesday 10 March 2010 22:23

WHILE Donald Trump may have ruffled a few feathers with his plans for a world-class golf resort near Aberdeen, fellow American Herb Kohler is adopting a more sympathetic approach with his latest venture in St Andrews.

• Herb Kohler

Kohler, a plumbing magnate who is one of the United States' richest tycoons, bought Hamilton Hall, which he reckons is the second most photographed building in world golf – after its neighbour, the R&A Clubhouse – for 11 million last year and is set to take the next step towards seeing it being refurbished.

Tomorrow and Saturday, in the town hall in St Andrews, the famous red sandstone building will be the subject of a public consultation and, though Kohler, who also owns the Old Course Hotel nearby, knows exactly what he'd like to do to restore Hamilton Hall to its former glory, the 69-year-old is ready and willing to take on board whatever the locals have to say.

His proposals, which could cost up to 30m, are to turn the building, which has been empty since a plan to create a "fractional ownership" scheme failed to materialise, into a series of one-bedroom luxury timeshare flats, or two to four-bedroom apartments, linked to services provided at the Old Course Hotel.

Speaking exclusively to The Scotsman during a visit to Edinburgh to meet Jim Mather, the Energy, Enterprise and Tourism Minister, Kohler said: "We are looking forward to the public consultation. We've already received a significant amount of responses without asking for anything. We've received them on the internet and some direct to the hotel and direct to me, too. I think 95 per cent of them have been very positive, one way or the other, and we've had some good ideas."

Kohler, who also owns the Duke's Course at St Andrews, is clearly passionate about this latest project in the Fife town, which he first visited as a guest in the famous hotel he bought in 2004 and has totally refurbished ahead of this year's 150th anniversary of The Open Championship on the Old Course. "Do I remember seeing it (Hamilton Hall] in Chariots of Fire? Of course I do," he said. "On virtually every picture of St Andrews you can see the R&A Clubhouse and Hamilton Hall.

"Indeed, I call it possibly the second most photographed building in the world in golf. It has great character and great colour and juxtaposed to the R&A clubhouse it makes a wonderful picture of St Andrews.

"We have a chance to create something special but, if I felt we could do what we wanted to, we would instantly fail. There's too many nuances that are different to this country – and thank god for that. It makes you unique and makes you distinct. To do something successfully in this country you better understand that."

That was perhaps a veiled reference to the way Trump has gone about his business in Aberdeen, where the American recently submitted detailed plans for his 1 billion golf resort at Menie. Having visited the site himself, Kohler can see why Trump is so determined to build a course there but doesn't sound totally convinced that it will come to fruition.

Asked if he'd been following the Trump saga, he said: "Only to the extent that Donald makes his interest known. I think there have been some setbacks recently and, on the one hand, that might make him more determined to see this through. On the other, he might just say there are other things I can do. He always keeps quite a number of irons in the fire.

"I've seen around the proposed site and part of the problem is that it is so lovely. Everyone gets upset when someone wants to change something so good and put all that concrete around it."

While Trump wants to build his own course north of Aberdeen, Kohler revealed that he once approached an established club in the same area to see if he could buy a stake in it after he and, even more so, his wife fell in love with the place.

"Cruden Bay is a remarkable golf course and I loved it very early on," he said. "It has always been my wife's favourite course in the world, both visually and playing it. She always pressed me hard to buy a farmhouse that sits just to the south. Oh mercy. So Donald and I could have been neighbours. I even went as far as approaching the club and asked them about buying an interest."

While that approach was turned down, Kohler was delighted when he secured ownership of the Old Course Hotel six years ago and is looking forward to playing host to the world's best when many of them stay there during the week of The Open in July.

"I owned the hotel in 2005 (when Tiger Woods won the last Open at St Andrews], but this will be the first Open since we renovated it," said Kohler, who, not surprisingly for a man who has made his fortune from the Kohler Co plumbing empire, is particularly keen that the shower pressure is spot on. "That took a look of sorting, believe me," he noted, "but we did it."

Outside the hotel, changes are being made to the 'Road Hole' after the R&A decided to lengthen it by creating a new tee, though players will still have to hit over the sign for the Old Course Hotel. "It will make a slightly more severe angle than it was," said Kohler. "By lengthening the hole and moving the tee a degree or two, they have returned the difficulty to where it was say 20 years ago – they've not made it more difficult."