Golf in Scotland – Syndication Server

This famed Scottish golf club is believed to be the first to add defibrillators to golf carts

With access to a defibrillator in addition to CPR, the odds of someone’s survival can jump.

Royal Dornoch, a historic golf course in the northern reaches of Scotland which can trace its roots in the sport back to the early 17th century, is renowned for taking care of its members.

In keeping with this ethos, it is now thought to be the first club in the world to install life-saving defibrillators on all its golf buggies.

There are more than 30,000 cardiac arrests annually in the UK, with “an unacceptable” survival rate of less than 8 percent.

With access to a defibrillator in addition to CPR (cardiopulmonary resuscitation) the odds of someone’s survival can jump from around 6 percent to 74 percent.

Royal Dornoch has installed a Phillips AED (automated external defibrillator) on all five carts that are hired out to golfers with medical conditions. Another will be used by the club’s “roving ranger.”

More: Golfweek bounds across Scotland, from Royal Dornoch around to St. Andrews with stops all along the way

The club already has two kits in its clubhouses but Neil Hampton, general manager of the club, said he wanted to go further after meeting Surrey businessman David Sullivan and former England international footballer John Salako, who are both ambassadors for the Heart Start campaign.

Sullivan took part in a three-month, 1,100-mile fundraising challenge last year which saw him hit golf balls from John O’Groats to Lands’ End, teaching CPR skills to 40,000 people en route.

He said: “Neil Hampton and the team looked after me during the challenge, listened to my story and expressed an interest in fitting their buggies with defibrillators.

“Royal Dornoch is the first course in the world to install potentially life-saving defibrillators and first aid kits on each of their golf buggies but, hopefully, it won’t be long before others follow suit,” said Sullivan, who embarked on his crusade after suffering the tragedy of losing four close friends in their forties, all to cardiac arrest.

Royal Dornoch has installed a Phillips AED (automated external defibrillator) on all five carts that are hired out to golfers with medical conditions. Another will be used by the club’s “roving ranger.”

“We are seeing more and more golf clubs around the UK purchasing defibrillators for their clubhouses. That is fantastic. But we believe clubs can go one step further to protect members and visitors by providing defibrillators in every buggy going out onto the course.”

Royal Dornach’s general manager believes other golf clubs will embrace the concept.

“We were very impressed with what David and John have been doing to promote the use of defibrillators,” he said. “We have had one at the clubhouse and at the halfway house for several years. Luckily, they haven’t been called into action so far, but defibrillators have a track record of saving lives.

More: Where does Royal Dornock place on Golfweek’s Best classic courses in Great Britain and Ireland? Very high

“Now we have installed a Phillips AED on all five buggies that are hired out to golfers with medical conditions. Another is used by our roving ranger and that could prove particularly invaluable if someone is in distress.

“They are simple to use, the machine talks you through what to do in the event of an emergency.”

A heart attack is when blood flow to the heart is blocked.

Sudden cardiac arrest is when the heart malfunctions and suddenly stops beating. A heart attack is a “circulation” problem and sudden cardiac arrest is an “electrical” problem

Sullivan said: “Our mission is to increase investment in life-saving defibrillators and educate as many people as possible on how to perform CPR.

“The chances of a victim of cardiac arrest surviving are enhanced greatly if a defibrillator can be used within the first three minutes. Stats show the survival rate can be boosted by around 70 percent.

“Given the size of your average golf course, it makes sense to kit out buggies with equipment that can be called upon quickly in an emergency.”

Code Blue CPR offers a support package to golf clubs and defibs that require no maintenance as they self-analyze every day and alert staff of any issues, such as a low battery.

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Scotland named world’s best golf location by World Golf Awards

The World Golf Awards, which is held annually, is in its ninth year and celebrates excellence in golf tourism.

Scotland has been named the world’s best golf destination in a prestigious award being held in the Middle Eastern City of Abu Dhabi.

The World Golf Awards, which is held annually, is in its ninth year and celebrates excellence in golf tourism with the winner selected by tour operators, golfing media, and fans from around the world.

Beyond winning the world’s best golf destination award, Scotland was also named Europe’s best location to play golf in.

This is the first time the home of golf has picked up both of these awards in the sport’s prestigious prize-giving event.

Scotland, which has more than 550 golf courses, hosted the 150th Open at St. Andrews in Fife in July of this year.

The country also hosted The Genesis Scottish Open, The Senior Open Presented by Rolex, Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open, AIG Women’s Open, and the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.

Tiger Woods Jack Nicklaus — Tiger Woods of The United States poses for a photo with Jack Nicklaus on the 18th bridge during the Celebration of Champions Challenge during a practice round prior to The 150th Open at St. Andrews Old Course on July 11, 2022, in St Andrews, Scotland. (Photo by Ross Kinnaird/Getty Images)

In a statement, VisitScotland’s chief executive said: “These awards are a fitting end to an extra special year for golf in Scotland and fantastic recognition for all the people who work so hard to grow and enhance our reputation as the Home of Golf.

“I’d like to extend our congratulations to everyone, as well as the wider tourism and events industries and suppliers.

“Every year, we welcome hundreds of thousands of visitors eager to play our great golf courses and relax in our accommodation after a day’s golf, enjoying local produce and visiting nearby attractions.”

Dermot Synnott, director of global partnerships for the World Golf Awards added: “Scottish golf tourism is thriving, and Scotland is a bucket list destination for most golfers around the World.

“It offers a vast range of parkland and links options across all its regions, so the traveling golfer really is spoilt for choice.”

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10 best golf courses in Scotland

St. Andrews is spectacular, but there’s more magic at the home of golf than just The Old Course.

The golf world returns home as the 150th Open Championship will be played at the Old Course at St. Andrews.

The fans are excited, the Tour pros are excited, even the LIV golfers are allowed in on the action.

We know that most golf fans will spend the next week and more dreaming of hitting the Scottish links, so we here at Golfweek are doing everything within our power to make that dream a bit more real.

Last week we gave you some of the best U.K. golf vacations out there, but this week our focus narrows to Scotland and the 10 best courses that the home of golf has to offer.

These rankings come directly from the hundreds of Golfweek’s Best Raters for 2021 who continually evaluated courses and rated them based on our 10 criteria. They also filed a single, overall rating on each course. Those overall ratings on each course are averaged to produce a final rating for each course.

For more of Golfweek’s Best course lists, check out the most recent selection of course rankings:

What’s a portakabin? And why are Scottish golfers sad it’s gone from Dundonald Links?

The hand dryers in the loos are pretty fancy, too.

Those of you keen on the history of cherished, triumphant edifices will probably know that the Eiffel Tower was originally intended as a temporary exhibit when it started to get rattled up back in 1887.

And look at it now? Still plonked there as a majestic beacon for patriotism, resistance, romance and long bloomin’ queues of camera-clicking tourists. Now, we’re not saying the old portakabin clubhouse at Dundonald Links — which sits less than an hour southwest of Glasgow, Scotland — was anything remotely like this grand Parisian pile but, having stood as a stopgap facility for almost two decades at the Ayrshire venue, it too became something of a treasure.

“People had a real soft spot for it and by the end, we thought it would just about have listed status,” said Dundonald Links general manager, Ian Ferguson, with a reflective chuckle as he looked back on a hardy make-shift assembly which has welcomed some of the world’s best golfers in both the men’s and women’s Scottish Opens.

“It was actually quite emotional when they took it away. They took it off in sections, from one end to the other, and you could see it disappear day by day to the point where you could glimpse the exposed hand dryers in the loos. As much as people loved it, there were others who didn’t. Some people wouldn’t bring a corporate event here as it just wasn’t as grand as some other places so we had to move on.”

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The portakabin is no more but in its place has emerged the bricks, mortar and shimmering fixtures and fittings of a fully operational and permanent clubhouse. The hand dryers in the loos are pretty fancy, too.

As part of a major, multi-million pound investment by new owners, Darwin Escapes, Dundonald, which was sold by Loch Lomond a couple of years ago, is now ready to return to the big stage of championship golf again with the Trust Golf Women’s Scottish Open coming back to this neck of the woods in 2022 and 2023.

With the prize fund of the championship rocketing to $2 million next year, this is a terrific time to be involved with a tournament that is going from strength to strength.

“The business model here is pretty straightforward,” added Ferguson, after a VIP night of lavish, glass-clinking indulgence that would’ve made Nero envious. “We are catering for golf tourism from all over the world and want to get people to stay, play, eat, drink and have a good time. But we definitely are a tournament venue and we made sure that what we designed and developed would fit in with significant championships.”

The addition of an abundant cluster of delightfully appointed lodges around the premises clearly has benefits for the stay-and-play side of things but, from a championship perspective, there are added advantages.

Mi Hyang Lee of Korea, winner of the Aberdeen Asset Management Ladies Scottish Open, plays her second shot at the 18th hole as she finishes her final round at Dundonald Links Golf Course on July 30, 2017 in Troon, Scotland. (Photo by Mark Runnacles/Getty Images)

Golf got used to operating in tightly controlled bubbles during the Covid pandemic. Fingers crossed, we don’t go back to all that palaver but, amid ongoing uncertainty, resurgences, spikes and variants you never know what the future holds. Whatever happens, Dundonald is well placed to cope and cater for any radical changes in operational procedures and protocols.

“It lends itself to these changed times,” added Ferguson. “If we did have to go back to that tournament bubble, it’s now easy to create that isolation here and you can comply with whatever regulations are in place at that point.”

Having staged the Women’s Scottish Open three times from 2015, while hosting the men’s championship in 2017, Dundonald is certainly no stranger to showpiece occasions. “If the European Tour [now the DP World Tour] would like to come back we would be very keen to talk to them,” added Ferguson.

For the time being, the focus is on the Women’s Scottish Open and a stellar cast that will arrive for an event that takes place the week before a historic AIG Women’s Open at Muirfield.

“Having the Women’s Scottish Open here for the next two years adds huge value and it’s a great morale booster for all the staff to work towards,” said Ferguson. “Who knows? Dundonald could become the home of the event.”

As for the dearly departed portakabin?

“It will always have cult status,” smiled Ferguson.

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