The former Scottish National Golf Centre at Drumoig is to be injected with a new lease of life under the new ownership of St Andrews-born professional Stuart Syme.
Currently head pro at Dumfries and County and the father of Connor Syme, the top young prospect, who reached the semi-finals of the Amateur Championship at Royal Portrush last week, Stuart will return to Fife after 17 years away after acquiring the premises.
The Driving Range, closed since October 2012, will reopen this week and considerable refurbishment to the centre’s facilities is already under way.
The main building, formerly the offices and gym facilities for the Scottish Golf Union (SGU) before they abandoned the project, will be coming down, but all other parts of the complex will be utilised in the new Drumoig Golf Centre.
Stuart has been at Dumfries since 1997 but hankered after a return home and the chance to run his own project, with his son’s continuing development in mind.
“With Connor emerging as a very good player over the last few years I have been looking to invest in our own facility for a while,” he said.
“To get the chance to take on a wonderful set-up like Drumoig and return home to Fife at the same time was too good to miss.”
The renovated 25-bay driving range area will be first to open on Saturday, but will be followed by a pro shop and custom fitting studio.
Grass teeing areas are being provided while the old practice hole elements are to be converted into a par three course.
“The SGU had some training holes and practice greens around the driving range, and while I am restoring some of them I have designed a par three course incorporating as many of the old tees and greens as possible.
“It is a really fun course with water and other features to contend with and it should be a great facility for introducing youngsters to the game and for older people who don’t want to play the big courses all the time.”
Stuart looked at using the main office and gym at Drumoig House but will use the space in other ways when the building is demolished later this summer.
“Because it’s mostly a frame it should come down easily and the contractors are going to protect the indoor training facility so that we can use it for something else,” he said.
“I have a few ideas how we can use that extra space for fun elements, and we’ll be putting in a caf and a kids’ soft play centre hopefully in time for next season.
“It’s a lot of hard work, but the aim is to bring this back to the outstanding facility it was in the past and fulfil all the potential it had.”
His son’s development Stuart and Connor are the only father and son both to have played for the GB&I Boys team was also at the forefront of his plans.
“Connor’s development wouldn’t have been helped by just working behind a club shop counter, and instead we have one of the best practice facilities in the country on his doorstep instead,” added Stuart.
Group and individual coaching will be available, while Stuart plans to continue his close connections with the clubgolf programme developing youngsters once the centre is up and running.
The premises were originally built at a cost of £4 million by the SGU to be the Scottish National Golf Centre.
It opened in 1999, but went into receivership just four years later, losing a reported £1m a year.
The premises became the property of Torith Ltd, which operated it as a golf range and used Drumoig House as offices until they too went into administration in 2009.
The range then operated on and off until it closed in October 2012.