Sheep, sand and Christmas trees helping in ongoing response to coastal erosion at St Andrews' golf courses

Dunes are being rebuilt to protect the world famous golf courses due to coastal erosion in recent years.

The restoration forms part of ongoing nature-based and hybrid engineered coastal management activity by St Andrews Links Trust, which has seen a range of proactive steps taken to safeguard the golf courses and surrounding area.

The trust employs a dedicated team to monitor change, deliver best fit solutions and engage with all communities across their coast including West Sands beach.

Nature-based solutions are at the heart of the new plan with defences retreating in recent years.

Key works have included reviewing options and taking direct action to strengthen sand dunes at earliest risk of erosion; protecting the integrity of hte dune system including maintaining pedestrian access points through the dunes; restoring coastal grasslands to maximum natural health to provide a robust natural buffer zone around their soft coasts and deploying Hebridean sheep to support coastal biodiversity.

They have also surveyed and taken direct action to support coastal habitats and wildlife and sensitively raised land to scientifically defined heights for future protection.

The trust has maintained beach monitoring and non-mechanised beach cleaning at the West Sands and actively engages with local residents in their dune restorations including bringing their old Christmas trees to be thatched into support for vulnerable dunes.

The sand dunes along the estuary side of the Outhead peninsula and the Jubilee course were previously restored in 2008. However, they became unstable in recent years and required additional works, particularly following storm surges during the winter of 2023/24, which were among the worst on record.

Work, which began in February, to stabilise the defences is scheduled for completion in early April. This has seen 28,500 tonnes of sand used to build a new 200 metre dune, which enhances what is already the biggest and longest-running dune restoration project in Scotland.

It has also restored a recognised potential flood corridor, protecting important coastal grasslands and minimising storm-driven impacts on the Jubilee course grasslands.

The project is designed to give the Links Trust time to take adaptive measures and to define a long term strategy, as the work will require repetition to hold the shoreline in the future as it’s within an active erosion zone.

Neil Coulson, chief executive of St Andrews Links Trust, said: “At the Home of Golf we take our responsibility as the custodians of not just the Old Course, but our other world famous courses extremely seriously.

“That’s why we are proactively working to ensure we find solutions for problems that links courses around the world may face in the not too distant future.

“We know that coastal erosion is a challenge, but from employing our team of rangers to implementing our plan and working with others to find solutions, we are leading the way in ensuring a future for links golf.”

The West Sands Ranger Service was introduced in 2022 to manage the West Sands area and to maintain, protect and enhance the natural and cultural importance of the site.

As part of the team at St Andrews Links Trust and working closely with NatureScot, Fife Council and Fife Coast and Countryside Trust, the rangers engage and educate the local community and link with golf organisations to share best practice.

Ranald Strachan, Lead West Sands Ranger, said: “Our coastal management activity is about being proactive in ensuring a sustainable future for our world famous golf courses, but also for the surrounding communities too.

“When it comes to coastal erosion, it’s not just links courses at risk. That is why it’s important that we lead the way in St Andrews and support others to get ahead of issues which could cause serious problems in years to come.

“By taking a range of nature-based solutions and working with agencies in Scotland and beyond, we are using traditional and innovative approaches to safeguard this historic venue and prepare it for the future.”