
Carnoustie Golf Links snaps up popular town centre restaurant
Links bosses have confirmed the purchase of the former Maxibell tapas bar at 5 Park Avenue.
It sits just off the High Street and close to the legendary Championship Course.
The premises have been a busy spot since its original days as the Golf Inn.
But the restaurant closed last year and was later offered at auction with a £150,000 starting price.
Links management are now developing new plans for the restaurant.
The move comes after major changes to the running of the Open Championship venue.
A new company has been formed to run the courses and resort hotel.
Carnoustie Golf Heritage and Hospitality Group Limited has promised huge investment to secure the return of the event to Angus.
And the Links said it is 'excited' about a comeback for Maxibell's.
A spokesperson said: 'This decision reflects our ongoing commitment to supporting the community and preserving valued local institutions.
'Maxibell's has long been a place of connection and joy for many.
'We felt it was important to safeguard its legacy, ensure its continued success and to contribute positively to the community.
'We believe that this is a special opportunity for us to support something that means a lot to people.
'We're excited about the positive impact this will have both now and into the future.'
'We are currently in the process of exploring renovation works, including carrying out necessary surveys to assess the building and its facilities.
'We are working through this as quickly as we can and our aim is to re-open and welcome guests as soon as possible.'
CGHHG now operate the golf assets and Carnoustie Golf Hotel as a single entity.
In January, Angus Council agreed the biggest ever change to the way the council-owned courses are run.
The Links said a new deal was essential to secure the external investment needed for Carnoustie to retain its place on The Open rota.
A £3 million spa upgrade at Carnoustie Golf Hotel was completed earlier this year.
Links chief executive Michael Wells said the investment was a 'sign of things to come' from its new owners.

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ITV News
a day ago
- ITV News
'A resounding success': 153rd Open at Royal Portrush bigger and better than 2019 golf major
Empty grandstands signal the end of the 2025 Open Championship, but as the clean up effort begins in Portrush, the golf has performed a lot of heavy lifting for the town. Tourism Northern Ireland has hailed the return of The Open to Northern Ireland as "a resounding success". Around 278,000 golf fans descended on the North Coast for the week-long event. Tracy McAllister is a shop owner in Portrush who "never seen crowds like it" in the town. She said: "We had some of the families of the professional golfers that were in Portrush from the States and from South America. "We had some people here from Australia and New Zealand. "We are so delighted that we had a really good week of trade. "I think The Open was about 25% bigger this time than it was in 2019 so it would be brilliant to have it back." There were concerns following the last tournament that Portrush did not see the trade it should have. The ability for fans to leave the course during the day this time has helped. Alan Simpson from Portmagic said: "There is little doubt that there was a lot more people in Portrush this time around." "The ticketing ballot scheme gave people more freedom." he said. It wasn't just spectators enjoying the town, with Jon Rahm being one of many golfing superstars decompressing in Portrush. "Scottie Scheffler's wife and young Bennett, who stole the show on Sunday evening, spent a lot of time in West Strand and the beach making sandcastles." "The golfers come into town and mingled with the locals. They were happy to take selfies and photographs. "Everywhere you looked there was a famous golfer. Xander Schauffele went to the local spa." The home of Rory McIlroy was the Dunluce Lodge last week, which overlooks the fourth hole at Royal Portrush. The success of the 2019 tournament prompted the resort to be built. Sinead McNicholl from Dunluce Lodge described the economic benefits to come over the next number of years as "very exciting". "Over the last 48 hours we've seen a phenomenal increase in inquiries not just from golf enthusiasts, but from people looking for day spa activities, and wellness retreats." Tourism NI has said the region should feel 'incredibly proud' of its seamless and highly successful delivery of The Open. It is estimated that the economic and media benefit from hosting the major will exceed £213million. John McGrillen, CEO of Tourism NI, said the opportunities and impact associated with hosting such a global sporting event 'cannot be underestimated'. 'The exposure created during this incredible week of golf is invaluable for the entire region. 'From the thousands of people who visited Royal Portrush to see the action first-hand to the millions who watched the television coverage, Northern Ireland has without doubt been showcased as a must-see golf and tourism destination.", he said.'Opportunities to stage major events such as this cannot be under-estimated and the chance to host The Open, not just once, but twice in the past six years is a remarkable achievement. 'The warm welcome people from around the world received means it will not be the last time they visit Northern Ireland.' Want a quick and expert briefing on the biggest news stories? Listen to our latest podcasts to find out What You Need To Know.


The Herald Scotland
2 days ago
- The Herald Scotland
Is it time The Open returned to Donald Trump's Turnberry?
Donald Trump is due to visit his Scottish golf courses, including those at Trump International in Aberdeenshire, later this week and is expected to receive a frosty reception from protestors. This will not deter him from pushing the case for Turnberry, while officials here will seize the opportunity to parlay with the President on matters such as trade tariffs and the offshore oil industry. Read more: The punters who piled into Rory McIlroy overnight on Saturday to overhaul Scheffler's four-shot lead following the Irishman's spirited performance in the third round took a calculated gamble and lost. Betting on the eventual return of The Open to Turnberry is an equally tricky proposition. 'You see the scale of their setup here [at Royal Portrush] and we've got some work to do on the road, rail and accommodation infrastructure around Turnberry," Mr Darbon told reporters last week. 'We've explicitly not taken it out of our pool of venues but we'd need to address those logistical challenges should we return.' Asked directly if the resort's ownership will impact the decision on Turnberry, Mr Darbon said this is a "somewhat hypothetical question" unless these other issues are addressed. 'I met a couple of months ago with Eric Trump and some of the leadership from the Trump golf organisation and from Turnberry," he added. "We had a really good discussion. Read more: 'I think they understand clearly where we're coming from. We talked through some of the challenges that we have so we've got a good dialogue with them.' While a bit short of a resounding endorsement this is a softening in the R&A's stance under previous chief executive Martin Slumbers, who suggested on numerous occasions that the famed Ailsa course would not host The Open while under the ownership of Donald Trump. Speaking to the Golf Channel the month before retiring from the R&A in December 2024, Mr Slumbers said: 'We will not be taking any events there until we are comfortable that the whole dialogue will be about golf. 'That situation is something we're still not comfortable with at the moment, but that could evolve in the coming years.' Looking ahead to later this week, my colleague Brian Taylor put forward his views a few days ago as to whether the UK Prime Minister or Scotland's First Minister should be more concerned about meeting with President Trump on his forthcoming trip. Both are scheduled to do so. Read more: Brian's conclusion? Well, both meetings offer opportunities: "A chance to convince this most mercurial leader that he should change tack on tariffs, that global trade is in jeopardy. Or, at least, a chance to try." Yet both Keir Starmer and John Swinney can expect criticism for engaging with Mr Trump. I'll leave the political optics for others to wrangle with but I can't help imagining the moment when First Minister Swinney broaches the subject of Scotch whisky exports to the US, which are being disrupted by higher tariffs. I'd lay a wager that "The Open" and "Turnberry" are among the first 20 words in President Trump's response. The final tally has yet to be verified, but based on advance ticket sales the R&A estimated back in April crowds totalling 278,000 throughout last week's competition on the Dunluce links at Royal Portrush. When confirmed – let's be realistic, it will be confirmed – this will be the second-best attended Open in history after some 290,000 people descended on St Andrews in 2022 for its 150th anniversary. More than 258,000 fans attended last year's tournament at Royal Troon, making it third on the all-time list. Read more: Size matters in the modern model of this historic competition, and numbers such as those above dwarf the roughly 123,000 spectators who made the trip to Turnberry when the Ayrshire resort last hosted The Open. With the exception of 2020 and 2021 – when the event was cancelled and the following year restricted by Covid containment measures – Turnberry has by far the lowest attendance record of the last 17 years. The next closest is Muirfield in 2013 (142,000), another hopeful hampered by logistics which is vying for a slot after being reinstated to The Open rota in 2017. Put another way, crowd numbers in all of the last four years since the pandemic have comfortably more than doubled the turnout at Turnberry in 2009. 'That's really important for us because not only do we want to showcase this wonderful championship to as many people as possible, but it's important for us in terms of our commercial model because everything that we generate from The Open, we then reinvest back into the game all around the world," Mr Darbon said earlier this year. In this he clearly agrees with his predecessor Mr Slumbers, who was fond of saying that "big-time sport needs a big-time crowd". Questions of capacity appear to have overtaken politics in the quest to return The Open to Turnberry.


Belfast Telegraph
2 days ago
- Belfast Telegraph
Tourism leaders ‘optimistic' £213m Open boost ‘will be fully realised' and that tournament makes quick return
It comes as Tourism NI chiefs said they are hopeful it won't be too long before the major returns to these shores. As the dust settles on a successful eight days on the north coast, the Causeway Chamber said it estimates that 278,000 people attended the tournament, making it the largest Open held outside of St Andrews in Scotland. Academics from Sheffield Hallam University's Sport Industry Research Centre carried out an independent forecast predicting an overall economic impact of around £213m for the region. The Causeway Chamber thinks that figure is right on the money. 'The 153rd Open has once again placed Portrush and the Causeway coast firmly on the world stage,' a spokesperson told the Belfast Telegraph. 'With attendance tracking to meet the impressive figure of 278,000, we are optimistic that the projected economic impact of £63 million — along with an additional £150 million in global media value — will be fully realised across Northern Ireland. 'Locally, businesses have felt the immediate benefit, and the legacy continues. With a six-week derig period now underway, contractors and R&A personnel remain in the area, staying in local accommodation and enjoying our hospitality offerings. 'This extended presence provides a welcome and sustained boost to our economy, especially for the hospitality, tourism, and service sectors. 'We are proud to have supported such a world-class event and thank all those who contributed to its success. 'The Open has once again showcased what this region has to offer — and the long-term benefits will be felt well beyond the closing putt.' With limited accommodation in Portrush sold out well in advance of the event, many visitors stayed further afield — including Belfast — and commuted to the north coast over four days of practice and a further four days of competition. Translink confirmed more than 200,000 people used its services in a week of 'unprecedented' demand. Businesses in Portrush and beyond enjoyed bumper trade with some bars running out of beer. Tourism NI is 'confident' the £213m figure has been achieved amid speculation that other global events could soon be coming to Northern Ireland. When The Open came to Royal Portrush Golf Club in 2019 following a 70-year absence, tournament organisers committed to staging it at the course at least two more times. Aine Kearney from Tourism NI said they hope the world's top golfers will be returning soon. 'We've had really positive engagement with senior people in the R&A and they just told us how well it's gone,' she said. 'And we hope that puts us in a really good place in terms of them coming back as quickly as they did after 2019. 'It's been an outstanding success and I think that's been echoed by the R&A. We've heard the same from the golfers and all the visitors that have come to experience not only the golf but also the destination. The feedback has been absolutely fabulous in terms of how successful it's been, and how much we've been able to shine a light on Northern Ireland as a fabulous destination.' One of the main reasons NI has been unable to attract major sporting events is that there is not a stadium here with more than 20,000 seats. The long-awaited redevelopment of Casement Park will see a 30,000-capacity stadium built, but full funding to get the project off the ground is not currently in place and it is unclear when it will be. Delays in the redevelopment have already resulted Northern Ireland missing out on hosting Euro 2028 matches. There was a previous bid for the island of Ireland to host part of the Tour de France in 2026 or 2027, but this fell through. There was also a bid for the island to host the 2023 Rugby World Cup, but it instead went to France. The lack of stadium seating does not affect golf however and Ms Kearney said many will feel the economic bounce. 'What we do know is that there were a lot of people playing golf while they were here,' she said. 'The reports we have from all of our golf clubs is that their tee time sales were unbelievable and that puts them in a really good position, not only from the income they got from that to be able to continue to invest in their product, but also the advocacy that will come from the people that played. 'Hopefully, from that advocacy and the 100 million viewers across 190 countries that saw not only the world's best golfers playing, but also the magic of the landscape and the destination... we will look to see a similar increase to what we saw on the back of 2019, that was a 66% increase to £86 million. 'If we get that similar bounce again, we'll be very, very happy.'