|
 |
The new Castle Course peers back at St. Andrews.
 |
|
The contest to choose the name of St. Andrews’ soon-to-open seventh course has been decided. After receiving more than 4,000 emailed entries from all over the world, including far-flung places such as Australia, Argentina, Thailand and Iceland, the winning suggestion came from right here in the good ol’ US of A.
Starting in spring 2008, you’ll be able to play the Castle Course as part of your St. Andrews, Scotland golf vacation. The name was suggested by Edwin Burtnett of Tampa, Fla., a seven handicap who says he “fell in love” with St. Andrews when he first visited there in 1998. “Castle” refers to Kinkell Castle, which once stood in the area in the 1700s.
It could be a complete coincidence, but the fact that Mr. Burtnett is from Tampa made it particularly easy for him to attend the recent PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando, where a special naming presentation for the course was scheduled.
I also couldn’t help but notice that St. Andrews Links Trust, the organization that oversees the courses, had a huge Castle Course banner adorning its booth at the Show. Given that the new name wasn’t chosen until January 12, I wondered how on earth that banner was designed, approved, manufactured, shipped to the convention center (possibly from overseas), and set up by January 24th, the day before the show started. That’s a maximum window of just eight to nine business days.
To be honest, I was starting to think that this whole naming contest was just a front for harvesting email addresses for marketing purposes. So, I asked the communications manager for St. Andrews Links Trust, Mike Woodcock, about it. Here was his response:
Craig, I would like to be able to claim that we performed some feat of creative design but it was quite simple really. I work with a company in Miami which designs the booth for me. I had the design ready waiting for the wording and we pressed the button that Friday. We actually had a couple of days spare in the end.
So much for my conspiracy theory.
Not already a subscriber to Golf Vacation Insider? Click here to receive our free newsletter filled with insider travel tips on the world's finest golf courses and resorts. As a bonus, we will send you a free copy of Planning the Ultimate Golf Vacation, a 40-page book filled with insider tips from the editors of Golf Odyssey.
