By Martin Dempster

Copyright scotsman

The organisation that manages Scotland’s home of golf has expanded its resident boundary to recognise the most significant town-wide expansion for a generation. St Andrews Links Trust announced the boundary decision on Thursday based on the expansion of the town, which includes two new housing developments and potentially 1,500 households over the next 20 years. The new developments, including St Andrews West, are under phased construction, with both sitting just outside the existing town boundary. However, from April 1, 2026, residents who fulfil the trust’s criteria of permanent residency will qualify for a Links ticket, which cost £386 this year and allows year-round golf. Alongside this expansion, the trust is also reviewing the categories of its Links tickets. This will mean the simplification to two main categories of ticket – Resident and Ordinary – from April 2027. This update will see ticket holders within the resident boundary receiving a Resident category. All other ticket holders will come under the Ordinary ticket. Residents of Fife will qualify for a discount on the pricing for the Ordinary ticket. These categories replace the previous Resident, North-east Fife, Ordinary and Open tickets. A discount for members of local clubs within St Andrews for North-east Fife and Ordinary tickets will also be removed. As part of the overall review process, the trust has also reclassified its student Links ticket, which from September will see a return to a semester-based ticket. Neil Coulson, chief executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said: “Our priority as a charity is to balance access to the courses for residents and visitors while ensuring the long-term sustainability of the Links. “Expanding the resident boundary is an important way of opening the opportunity for more households to play here, and our ticket category review will ensure the system is fair, balanced and fit for the future, while also meeting our charitable objectives. “No current Links ticket holder will have their ticket removed as part of the changes and we look forward to working alongside the local clubs to ensure they continue to thrive as part of this unique golf ecosystem in St Andrews.” Local clubs in St Andrews, including the New, St Rule, St Regulus and St Andrews, have strong membership numbers and a waiting list in operation in many cases. The trust said the clubs will continue to play an important role in the overall golf ecosystem in St Andrews, and it will work with them as it provides opportunities for competitive play, tee times and social facilities. The trust said the removal of the club member discount had been driven by a need to comply with charity law – by associating a Links ticket with a club membership, this could be seen as offering a private benefit to clubs. The changes being introduced come after a ’Golf Access Project ‘working group was created in 2022 to review and monitor growing demand for playing at St Andrews Links by both ticket holders and visitors. Visitor numbers have soared since lockdown, with golf rounds exceeding 280,000 for the first time in its history in 2023 and again last year.