Carnoustie Golf Links, home to Golf’s Greatest Test and host to last year’s The 147th Open has re-opened its redesigned fourth course, The Nestie.
The course’s grand re-opening took place on Friday 26th April 2019 as part of the Carnoustie Craws Junior Golf Academy’s new season launch night at Links House. Despite the wet and windy conditions, the evening was attended by over 100 junior golfers and their families from the local area.
Juniors Ruari Carstairs and Kirsty Norrie were joined by Wave FM’s Ali DeFoy to cut the ribbon to officially reopen the course. Ruari and Kirsty were also the first to tee off on the redesigned Nestie and beat Ali in a one-hole competition.
The evening also included competitions for the juniors on The Nestie, the putting green and the Indoor Performance Centre, and offered families the opportunity to experience the new facilities on offer at the Links.
These facilities include The Nestie, a short, five-hole course that had been closed since last year ahead of The Open Championship.
Our greenkeeping team spent the winter months converting the former six-hole course, into a more exciting and diverse course with five holes of varying lengths between 45 and 116 yards. Work carried out includes the re-building of the tees and greens and the addition of two bunkers to the course.
The Nestie is free to play and is open to everyone including kids, families and golf beginners. One of the many facilities that we have on offer at Carnoustie, playing an active role in breaking down barriers into the sport.
Speaking of The New Nestie, PGA Head Professional Keir McNicoll said: “It’s great to have The Nestie open again. The new layout will make the course more appealing to everyone in the community and it’s pretty cool to think that it will be the starting place for so many golfing journeys.
“Golf can sometimes be an intimidating game when you first pick up a club, so having a course like The Nestie will allow people to play with no fear.”
The Carnoustie Craws launch night marked the beginning of another landmark season for the junior programme at the Links with almost 200 juniors, more than a third of which are girls, between the ages of 5 and 14 signed up to take part in weekly coaching and playing sessions.
Keir added: “The launch night gets bigger and better each year and it’s great to see so many children and families enjoy the facilities we have here at Carnoustie Golf Links.
“As a team, we are putting an immense amount of effort in to provide a place where children in our community can enjoy a sport that will keep them active throughout their lives.”
The evening combining the launch of the new Carnoustie Craws season and the re-opening of The Nestie was a milestone event for the Links.