Power Of St. Andrews: Potential Impacts Of Tee Time Control

Brandon Tucker does a nice job of explaining the potential significance of Old Course tee times going to Links Trust control, eliminating a middleman of sorts and perhaps, perhaps making planning easier.

This is included in Tucker's write-up.

Sam Baker, founder and CEO of Haversham & Baker Golfing Expeditions, is optimistic the move by the Links Trust will be beneficial to leisure groups, not to mention the rest of the Scottish golf and travel industry. The current model, which can cause Old Course premiums to run as high as $2,000, has led to most OCE packages to be booked by corporate groups that stay 3-4 nights in St. Andrews exclusively. By spreading these tee times out to various packagers, leisure groups stand a better chance of securing better deals. Baker says his Scotland golf groups normally stay 6-8 nights and visit at least two regions of Scotland, whether it's nearby East Lothian or north around the Scottish Highlands.

"The bigger winner is Scotland," said Baker, of the Links Trust announcement. "The average length of stay associated with Old Course tee times will almost double, which is really good for Scottish tourism."