If ever there was a general manager in the golf industry that has the experience to cope with the coronavirus pandemic, surely David Scott would be your man.

Scott by birthright and surname, the 57-year-old has spent his entire career at golf clubs in Scotland, and in December last year landed the role of general manager at Dumbarnie Links, five months before the links were due to open for play in May 2020.

A self-confessed “home bird”, Scott has always worked in and around St Andrews, so when the opportunity to take over the helm at one of the most anticipated new courses in world golf presented itself, he had little hesitation in accepting the invitation.

Heralded as the ‘new’ Kingsbarns, and the Pebble Beach of Scotland, Dumbarnie Links boasts unparalleled panoramic views across the Firth of Forth and has all the characteristics to become one of the finest links courses in the world. And with previous experience of opening Kingsbarns, Scott was the perfect man to launch Dumbarnie Links.

Most of Scott’s early career was spent learning his craft at clubs like Rosemount, Letham Grange and Balbirnie Park before stepping up a notch when he secured the position of director of golf at Kingsbarns. That was back in November 1999, before Kingsbarns opened in 2000, and as Scott recalls, chairman Mark Parsinen effectively gave him carte blanche to shape the golf operation.

“Basically, Mark gave me a blank piece of paper and said, ‘All right. Tell me what stock you want in the shop. Tell me what type of course guide, scorecard and team uniforms and most importantly, what team you want.’

“He liked what he saw, and we really just went straight off from there,” recalls Scott.

“We opened on July 17, 2000, with 1,426 golfers in week one. There was a great deal of demand on the golf operations, as well as the caddiemaster which I was also involved with – I wanted to ensure that there was a consistency in our caddie program that wouldn’t let our guests down.

“So, we were off to a flyer, and within 15 months of opening, we’d gone to top 50 in the world, and hosted the Alfred Dunhill Links.”

And then 9/11 struck, and the US market that was so important to Kingsbarns literally disappeared overnight.

“It was a tough year or two, no question about it,” recalls Scott. “We just tightened everything down and watched our expense lines. Thankfully, there was still a great deal of interest in Kingsbarns, as we had opened with some good media coverage and had also hosted the Dunhill. So, when a lot more tee times became available because there wasn’t any international travel, the Scottish market grew pretty quickly.

“At the time, Kingsbarns was almost unique in the levels of experience that it was offering – almost like an American style – which we didn’t really do in the UK. Whereas now, of course, that has become not the norm, but it’s more expected, especially at the price point that you’re looking for.”

Scott spent nine happy years at Kingsbarns before moving just down the coast to the Home of Golf, St Andrews, where he spent 11 years working for the Kohler family of Wisconsin – owners of The Duke’s Course, as well as the world-famous Old Course Hotel – in various different roles.

Five years were spent as manager at The Duke’s, before moving away from golf as director of operations at the Old Course Hotel at the personal request of Mr Kohler.

“I started at the Old Course Hotel in 2008 at the Duke’s [Course], and then in 2013, I was asked by the chairman, Mr Kohler, to oversee the hotel and resort as director of operations because the general manager was leaving.

“My role at the hotel included overseeing the food and beverage for the resort, which included seven restaurants in total,” said Scott. “I learned a great deal about service, F&B and management, which was a fantastic learning curve for me. I also learnt a great deal from my one-to-one conversations with Mr Kohler. It was an opportunity money couldn’t buy, and it was terrific.”

A move to director of Leuchars – the aviation arm of the Kohler empire – followed, which included responsibility for landing private jets, sometimes worth up to US$75 million, but with golf in his blood, Scott was always destined to return to the fairways.

“It didn’t really excite me, seeing all these fancy jets, because I’m not really into jets, but I love golf, and I love talking to golfers.

“So, when the opportunity like this came up, on a brand-new golf course, there wasn’t a question in my mind that I wanted to go for it. And when I did get it, I was thrilled, and I’ve not looked back.”

Dumbarnie Links is the brainchild of Clive Clark, who was introduced to the land upon which the course now resides by former editor of Golf Monthly, Malcolm Campbell. The land forms part of the Balcarres Estate, and keen to explore the possibility of creating a world-class golf course, Clark and Campbell approached the landowner, Lord Balniel, and struck a deal.

The design incorporates three potentially driveable par-4s and features several holes that engender ‘risk and reward’.

The course is designed to inspire rather than intimidate golfers and its dual elevations provide the opportunity to create a number of tees where holes play directly towards panoramic views of the expansive Firth of Forth.

Managed by OB Sports, Dumbarnie Links was built by US-based Landscapes Unlimited and project managed by Paul Kimber. Like Kingsbarns, Dumbarnie Links is US-centric in its management and approach to service and had earmarked the North American sector as a key area for growth.

But then, like 9/11, the world changed when COVID forced the closure of the clubhouse which is still under construction, and the link road onto the 345-acre site.

However, rather than delay the opening of the course, Scott opted to open as planned in May – fully adhering to social-distancing guidelines – and drawing upon his previous experiences, re-wrote the business plan to switch the focus onto the home market of Scotland.

“Right now, we’re most fortunate,” sighed Scott. “We’ve been open just a couple of months and have hosted over 5,000 golfers.

“As our reputation is starting to build, we’re getting well over 100 golfers a day from Scotland. It would be great to have the English market up here too, but, frankly, with COVID, we’re actually very happy with keeping it local. We’re happy keeping it really quite safe, and hopefully, providing a really great golfing experience.”

The green fee for non-Scottish residents is £235, reducing to £115 if you’re local, so, perhaps it is little surprise that currently 80 per cent of visitors live in Scotland.

As to the future, once the pandemic has passed, Scott will be looking west towards the North American market for more visitors but is happy to stay closer to home from a personal perspective.

“I’ll be here until I retire and have no desire to be chasing money around the world,” he says. “I just love the area; I love the people and I get great joy with working here.”