Carnoustie golf bosses have admitted local players weren’t consulted over a massive season ticket price hike because the answer would be one they didn’t want to hear.
But the committee which runs the world-famous Open Championship venue has escaped action by Angus Council for pushing the controversial changes through without consulting it as links’ landlord.
Some golfers saw their annual fee double to more than £600 this year.
There was anger over the scrapping of a five-day ticket.
And discounts for over-65s were axed.
Crunch council talks
Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee say fee rises were on the cards for years but never properly addressed.
But lack of consultation and little warning of the changes being applied were heavily criticised.
And councillors weighed in with their condemnation when top Carnoustie officials faced them this week.
However, the authority stopped short of ordering the links committee to u-turn on the price increases.
They decided not the take a tough line after considering a private report offering legal advice on the issue.
It came as the links warned Carnoustie’s global reputation as a sporting jewel was “on the line” because of delays around agreeing a new vision of how the Open Championship venue should be run.
Pricing challenges explained
CGLMC deputy chief executive Adair Simpson was quizzed by councillors at a full meeting of the authority about the fee changes.
Carnoustie’s pricing hinges around the ratio between yearly and visitor tickets.
Mr Simpson said season ticket golf at Carnoustie is being subsidised to the tune of £1.5m a year.
“Local perception is that should be funded by visitor revenue,” he said.
“But if we get that balance wrong, the group that’s going to be hit the most is season ticket holders.”
Prior to the changes, Carnoustie provided the cheapest access to golf in Angus.
“This meant an Angus resident could play the world’s best golf course and two other fabulous golf courses for as little as £324 a year.”
And he said that had brought players flooding to the town and threatened the future of other Angus clubs.
It meant a previous waiting list of more than 15 years to join Carnoustie.
No apology
Links finance director Mr Simpson admitted they had not said sorry over the lack of consultation.
“We felt that going to consultation on something that no-one was ever going to sign up to probably wasn’t going to be very fruitful,” he said.
“So we did take the approach that we had to make the changes for multiple reasons.
“If we had gone into consultation we would probably have found ourselves in a protracted position that probably wouldn’t have moved the dial.
“We haven’t directly apologised because we still believe we acted in the best interests of our organisation and the stakeholders collectively.
“Will we take learnings from it? Absolutely,” he said.
Kirriemuir councillor Julie Bell criticised the management committee’s approach over the lack of consultation.
“I think there’s a disconnect there between the organisation and the people who have been affected,” she said.
“You may well believe you’ve done the right thing for the business.
“But if that engagement and consultation hasn’t produced the result you would have hoped for there’s maybe been a gap there.”
Councillors considered the legal guidance report in private.
Provost Brian Boyd said the authority would be writing to CGLMC expressing its “disappointment” the management agreement hadn’t been complied with, but no further action would be taken.
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