Links golf boss to spread Old Course benefit across Scotland
Mr Coulson joined the trust in December 2021, having previously been general manager of Wentworth Club in London. Last year he declared the organisation had returned to financial health after repaying more than £8m in debt accumulated during the Covid lockdown and travel restrictions of 2020 and 2021.
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The trust, which is due to report it latest annual results next month, generated record operating revenue of £44m in 2023 with an operating profit of £11.5m.
"Following Covid there was a big reset required and it was a strategic direction of travel, a three-year plan," Mr Coulson said. "We're now looking at a 10-year plan - what's next - and this report is coming right at the beginning of that and it's helping to form some ideas about where do we go, and what do we do?
"How do we collaborate, how do we increase the benefit we're offering? If we're going to invest, what do we invest into?
"It's things like that - we can generate surplus but we have to invest into the right things that are going to benefit the experience we deliver, the facilities we have, and other community pieces have got to benefit as well."
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St Andrews Links - whose other courses include the New, Jubilee, Castle, Eden, Balgove and Strathtyrum courses - welcomes an average of 2,000 playing visitors every week.
Around 72% of those visitors come from overseas, with the USA (40%) and Canada (6%) being the key markets. A further 28% of visits were from the UK, with the remaining 26% coming from elsewhere.
All revenue generated by the Links Trust is reinvested into the sport, facilities and community initiatives across the region. For every £1 that passes through the charity's tills, an additional £3.43 is generated for other businesses in the town.
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