Carnoustie traders hope golf fans will swing by during visit to Senior Open

Traders in the Angus town of Carnoustie are hoping their businesses get a boost from golf fans visiting the Senior Open Championship.

The event enters its third day on Saturday, with some 40,000 visitors expected to attend across the duration of the tournament.

It’s the first time in eight years the Senior Open has been held at Carnoustie and businesses on the town’s high street say it will be one of the busiest times of the year.

Among them is Bethany Bowles, who owns a cafe called Gather. She told STV News: “It’s kind of hard to know what to expect when there is a competition in town but so far this one seems like it’s got a real buzz about it.

“The town’s definitely busier and there seems to be a really good atmosphere, so hopefully we are going to be picking up a bit of custom off the back of that.”

With thousands of visitors expected, hotels and B&B’s have been booked up well in advance and global TV coverage will put Carnoustie on the global map.

Jill Paterson from Angus Council said: “We often see a spike in activity following a major event such as this for a good number of years afterwards.

“Golf tourism generally is worth £20m to the Angus economy annually and that’s not including major event such as this.

“The Senior Open back in 2010, the economic impact of that was £1.7m”

The course is famed for being frustrating and for those now over 50, the famous links is teeing up another test.

At the world’s oldest golf shop, which overlooks the course, they’re hoping spectators will swing by.

David Valentine, the owner of Simpsons Golf Shop, said: “It’s about letting the world know we’re here, we’ve got a fantastic golf course and we love bringing visitors here and looking after them when they come.”