Achi news desk-
“Our mantra is that we are going to be affordable. Access for all is extremely important to us,” he said, adding that this experience is based on the principles of sustainable environmental management.
In 2017, the Trust became the first multi-site civic organization to achieve the internationally recognized Golf Environment Organization (GEO) certification – a recognition achieved again in 2022.
Fife Council Chief Executive Ken Gourlay said: “I am delighted to see how far the Fife Golf Trust has come in terms of developing our facilities across Fife and how it has succeeded in opening up opportunities for golf to be an inclusive sport for everyone. The Trust has done a great job developing and promoting golf across Fife.
It’s a game that Murphy has been passionately committed to throughout his adult life. He started keeping green with Dundee Council at Caird Park aged 17, became head greenskeeper aged 22 before moving on to become course manager at Downfield Golf Club, birthplace of the Scottish Open, where he spent 18 years before coming to the Trust as a golfer. course manager before taking over as CEO in 2022.
His remit, he said, was to bring the courses up to a higher standard and build the teams. “That was driven by environmental management by going back to basics while building the brand by increasing customer confidence in the product.”
The Trust runs seven courses: the 18-hole parkland courses of Cowdenbeath, Dunnikier, Scoonie and Glenrothes, as well as the link course at Kinghorn and two nine-holes, Auchterderran and Lochore Meadows. It also reaches out to vulnerable people, including Alzheimer Scotland, on the 2019 six-hole Course attached to Dunnikier Park Golf Course, Kirkcaldy which was designed and built in-house.
Established in 2012 on behalf of Fife Council, it is one of the largest public golf facilities in Scotland. “As a Charitable Trust, we are committed to growing and developing the business to ensure real improvements and benefits for current and future golfers,” said business manager Iain Evans.
“We receive support from Fife Council which enables us to give a 20 per cent discount to anyone over the age of 62 and to those on recognized forms of income and disability support and to younger people which means they can play golf in an affordable way. For example, if you’re under 12, you pay a pound and for those between 12 and 18, it’s £35 for unlimited access for the year. We then continue to offer Youth prices for those 12 – 18 and Intermediate prices for those aged 25 -29”.
Murphy says the Trust has relied on continued support from the Trust’s board which meets quarterly. “We have four elected members on that board so there is cross-party support, and we also have representation from the R&A, the sport’s governing body, St Andrews Links Trust and independent directors.”
“One of the things we did early on in the journey was to move to a professional golfer model in the majority of our locations, which allowed us to improve the customer experience and provide retail to our customers which was also improving’ r brand and helps to reduce costs. ,” he said.
“We were doing that while ensuring that environmental sustainability was part of the DNA of maintaining our courses across the wider areas of the business, including installing bird, owl and bat boxes and seeding wildflower areas for pollinators.”
Any scale of change, of course, involves a necessary level of disruption. “Without everyone’s support the early years would have been a bit of a struggle. We needed the support of the staff, including the green rangers and starters (who ensure that each group stays on schedule) so we were bringing the team on a new journey, giving them confidence in what they we are trying to achieve it so that they understand the part they played in the journey they were on.
“It’s important to us that everyone who works with the Trust enjoys their role allowing us to grow stronger together. The most difficult part was probably the first five years and while there are areas within the golf courses that still need additional work, managing them sustainably and looking after the environment is not too taxing on the staff. It is, after all, central to what we do.”
And with seven courses to look after, 21 greenkeeping staff and a management team of four working tirelessly to improve the business it was essential to have their support, he adds that Fife Golf Trust also relies heavily on its partner clubs and local communities.
“We can positively change people’s thinking about the game of golf by inviting schools, volunteers and others to help change their perceptions of what we do for wildlife – creating habitat, planting trees and that can only be good for for golf and its positive role for everyone.
Such ambitions are not unchallenged. “The continued support of Fife Council is essential for us to maintain our presence within the community, and we are aware that there are budgetary pressures in the current economic climate,” said Murphy.
Keeping people on the courses is also demanding given the weather in Scotland,” he adds. “Most inland courses have had a turbulent time all winter because the rain has never stopped. The climate is getting milder but wetter which clearly has an impact on the course’s playability and capital investment will be required in the future to ensure continued accessibility.”
He is confident, however, of making further positive steps in the future, including exploring the possibility of autonomous cutting on the six-hole course “which would benefit the environment and complement the other improvements that the staff putting them into practice”.
This is an exciting time, he concludes – “Although there will be other challenges to overcome, when we look at what we have already achieved and plan it gives us great confidence looking to the future.
fiegolftrust.co.uk
