Coltart backs East Lothian claim of best ‘Golf Coast’ in Scotland

ANDREW Coltart has given a glowing endorsement of East Lothian’s claim to be ‘Scotland’s Golf Coast’ ahead of the country’s other rich seams of golfing terrain.

“Over the last 20 years I’ve been fortunate to have travelled all over the world and played some great golf courses,” said the former Ryder Cup player, “but there is not a stretch of golfing land like we have on our doorstep here.”

The two-times European Tour winner was speaking in Aberlady, where he now lives, at yesterday’s official launch of the ‘Scotland’s Golf Coast’ brand, a new initiative involving the East Lothian Golf Tourism Alliance in conjunction with East Lothian Council. It’s a title that could just as easily be claimed by Fife, with its layouts along the East Neuk, and also Ayrshire, with two current Open venues at the heart of a splendid collection of courses. But, with 22 courses in a 20-mile stretch from Musselburgh down to Dunbar, Coltart is confident that no-one can accuse East Lothian of overdoing the trade description of its new branding.

“As a nation, we are guilty of playing things down – we have been too modest for too long,” he added. “The first stop for most visitors is Edinburgh. East Lothian is right on the doorstep and, before they go up to St Andrews, there is very good reason why they should be heading down here. It’s for the quality and experience, not just golf itself, but after-golf as well, which is huge in this area, where there is a wonderful community spirit.”

The East Lothian Golf Tourism Alliance was set up in 2005, when 16 different businesses and organisations each put £1,000 into a pot, which received a further £8,000 from East Lothian Council, to market the area as a golfing region. That was the first industry-led venture of its type in Scottish golf and, with a current membership of 48, is now being copied by other areas around the country as they bid to secure a chunk of the £200 million spent each year on golf tourism.

“East Lothian Council appreciate how valuable golf tourism is to the area, where it provides close to 20 per cent of the total employment,” said Allan Minto, who has travelled the world over the past nine years in his role as golf development officer spreading the word about a collection of courses that has Muirfield, next year’s Open venue, as its crown jewel.

While the Highlands had Fraser Cromarty, now on the staff at Castle Stuart, doing a similar job for a while, as did Stewart Smith in the south-west, Minto has been the only golf tourism officer over the past couple of years outwith those employed by VisitScotland. “It used to be that East Lothian relied on word of mouth for its visitors, but in recent years we’ve been to golf shows in Orlando, Zurich, Amsterdam, Cologne and Toronto to tell people what we have here,” he added.

Seventy per cent of the golfers who visit East Lothian each year come from the United Kingdom, with more and more of those travelling from the south of England, when the north was once the “bread and butter” in terms of visitors. Americans used to be next on that list, but it’s the Dutch and then the Germans these days, closely followed by the Scandinavians.

“We are able to adjust to changing markets,” said Minto. “For instance, when the North American market was affected a few years ago, we plugged those gaps by opening new relationships in Germany and the Netherlands.”

Officials from Dunbar, Gullane, Longniddry and North Berwick – four established clubs – were joined at yesterday’s launch by Jerry Savardi, owner of The Renaissance Club, which only opened four years ago. He said the area used to be a poor relation in terms of accommodation but not any more. I know that people coming from the States have seen a change and one of the people who deserves thanks for that is Kevin Doyle,” said the American of his counterpart at neighbouring Archerfield Links. “There are now 70 rooms there – and they are all first-class.”

Craigielaw is about to start work on a 25-bedroom golf lodge, while Dunbar has just received planning permission for a development that includes a 40-bedroom hotel. “People can eat, sleep, drink and golf in East Lothian and we believe the new branding as ‘Scotland’s Golf Coast’ will help us go from strength to strength,” said Bob Gunning, the ELGTA chairman.