The Eden Golf Society, St Andrews

Aim: We are building a community based independent venue in St Andrews to give everyone the chance to experience and enjoy golf, get involved!

The Eden Golf Society will give people from all over the world the opportunity to experience, learn and be part of the future of golf in St Andrews. 

Based in the iconic Fife town (the home of golf) our venue will breath life into an empty space on South Street and will allow everyone the opportunity to play, practice and enjoy golf on some of the world’s most iconic golf courses, including the Old Course using SEVEN state of the art golf simulators  as well as enjoying an interactive putting green and fun golf related games and entertainment. 

As well as the opportunity to experience golf; people will be immersed in and learn about the rich history and heritage of golf in St Andrews in a relaxed, fun, welcoming and inclusive environment serving the best of locally sourced food and drink at the café style “Bread & Putter”.

Built with the local and wider golf community, the Eden Golf Society will help address the key challenges for golf:

• It takes too long and appears boring to many.
• It costs too much and is difficult to play.

Golf can be perceived as a game for the few, but we will show golf is an inclusive game that is open to everyone, especially in St Andrews.

This will be done by building a community who will support the vision and help it take shape. Our community is about:

• developing a strong positive culture and a community around our golf club to showcase all that is positive about golf.
• involving people who love golf and St Andrews in the development of the golf club, engaging the wider community every step of the way.
• doing things differently and breaking down barriers to give people an accessible, fun, sociable, affordable, and rewarding experience.

As well as visiting our venue and playing golf on our immersive simulators, we will give people the opportunity to be part of a modern golf club that is open, accessible, and welcoming to all. Members and visitors will have the chance to learn about and experience the origins, history, and heritage of the game, as well as giving people who have never picked up a golf club the opportunity to say they’ve played golf in St Andrews using the fun and engaging simulator technology. 

The aim therefore is to take the spark of interest and give people an easy, accessible, affordable, entertaining, and most importantly a welcoming environment to get into golf.

Many people across the world now use golf simulators to learn the game, and indeed not everyone even wants to then progress to playing on a golf course, but playing in a safe environment that is not intimidating and does not require a huge outlay will give people the perfect introduction to the game we love. 

Over recent years golf has seen a boost, however still the biggest barriers to golf are cost (equipment and green fees/membership), finding a welcoming place to play and people to play with. Our golf community aims to solve all three barriers to participation.

For more experienced golfers the opportunity to play iconic courses as well as taking on the most famous shots ever played in bespoke challenges, playing courses with hickory clubs, competing against fellow golfers locally and around the world and to become a member of a modern golf club in St Andrews and to help shape its future is a truly unique and exciting opportunity. The Eden Golf Society will be the newest golf club in St Andrews and is truly inclusive and open to all, with no waiting lists, no interviews, no elitism, we are open and welcoming to everyone. To be a member of a golf club in St Andrews is a dream for many golfers, and through the Eden Golf Society we are making this dream a reality.

We truly believe golf has the potential to change lives for the better in many ways, and through the Eden Golf Society we intend to show that golf is for everyone and can support physical and mental health as well as bringing family and friends together, and what better place to do that, than in the home of golf.

In addition, we will focus our effort on finding ways to encourage and support participation for people with any form of disability or additional needs. 

The aim of the Eden Golf Society is to build a worldwide golf community that is based in the home of golf. 

That said, St Andrews is far more than just golf, and a founding principle is that the Eden Golf Society will be built by the community, serving the local and wider community needs through golf, supporting and working with the town and its people, as well as allowing the golf community to build and be part of something truly unique. 

We will never take St Andrews for granted, acting in the best interest of the town and its legacy.

St Andrews is a thriving and historic town, where residents, golfers, students, and tourists mix to create a unique charm and vibrancy. Anyone who has experienced the town, will have a place in their heart devoted to it, and will long to return. 

Whilst clearly there is more to the Old Grey Toun than golf, our aim is to provide a venue that all can be proud of, make use of, that has a positive impact on the town, and brings people together to truly grow the game and promote the St Andrews we all love.

To enable this, we are undertaking a campaign that will allow golfers to join as founding members for a one-off payment of £250. This approach will allow individuals to quickly engage in the project in a meaningful way, with the aim to raise a minimum of £250,000 that will be critical in the launch of our community. 

This once in a lifetime opportunity will give founding members a unique opportunity to help build our community, allowing them to leave a positive mark on the town and the place they love.

Quite simply, without founding members, we will not be able to breathe life into the Eden Golf Society.

This funding will help us to build our community and open our doors in St Andrews. In time we hope to expand outside of St Andrews but retaining our principle of being built by our community, serving the local and wider community needs through golf, supporting and working with our communities and its people 

This funding will give founding members their very own piece of St Andrews, allow them to leave a positive mark on the town and the place they love, breathing life into the Eden Golf Society.