Golf Festival comes to St Andrews

ORGANISERS of the inaugural St Andrews Golf Festival, which is being held at the end of this month, are hoping to attract 1,000 visitors per day to a myriad events celebrating the history of the game.

The brainchild of Richard Wax, a Parisian-based entrepreneur who has been a regular visitor to the Fife town over the years, the Festival is the first of its kind and is generating interest all around the world.

It is being held over five days (28 March to 1 April) and will involve a whole host of events, including exhibitions paying tribute to golfing greats such as Old Tom Morris, Bobby Jones and Seve Ballesteros, as well as the history of the game in St Andrews and the Ryder Cup.

“I have been trying to do something like this in St Andrews for many a moon,” said Wax, who is funding the Festival out of his own pocket and has employed Roger McStravick, who used to work for Visitscotland and also Fairmont St Andrews, as his man on the ground. “It is not a trade fair and the balance sheet at the end will show a big fat zero,” added Wax of his golfing extravaganza, which will also include tours, lectures, films and skills competitions. A special children’s day will be held in St Andrews Library, while there will also be SNAG Golf, a modified form of the game, close to the first tee on the Old Course.

“The global appetite for an event like this is phenomenal,” said Wax. “We are focused 100 per cent on getting it right and a key thing for us is the fun aspect.”

McStravick, the Festival’s chief executive, added: “Potentially this is massive. If we could get 1,000 people a day coming into St Andrews for the Festival that would be phenomenal. But an event like this has no limit. This is just the tip of the iceberg.”