Carnoustie's 16th green on the championship links with the Carnoustie Golf Hotel providing the backdrop (click on the Cal Carson Golf Agency image to enlarge it).

CARNOUSTIE IS RIGHT ON LINE: Internet bookings soar by 18%

Tee time bookings via the Internet for Carnoustie's championship links and its two subsidiaries, the Burnside and Buddon courses, have soared by 18% over the 12 month period from October 1 last year to October 31 this year.
The value of online green fee sales rose by 24% during the same period and for the first time exceeded £400,000.
"We launched our online booking system back in 2003 and each year since then we have seen significant increases in online sales," said Colin McLeod, the Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee's Golf Services Manager.
"The income we take from online bookings is now approximately 20% of our green fee revenue but we expect it to continue to grow in the years ahead particularly as, unlike many other websites, CGLMC does not make an additional charge for credit card bookings."
Golfers anywhere in the world who want a tee time to play at Carnoustie can now log onto http://www.carnoustiegolflinks.co.uk where they can check availability on all three of its courses and book a tee time on any day up to October 31 2010.
Two of the most exciting Opens over the past decade have been played over the Carnoustie championship course: 1999 when Paul Lawrie won a three-man play-off and in 2007 when Padraig Harrington defeated Sergio Garcia, also in a play-off.
Carnoustie will stage its first Senior Open Championship presented by MasterCard on July 22-25 next year and then 12 months later in 2011 will welcome the world's leading women professionals for the Ricoh Women's British Open, won this year by North Berwick's Catriona Matthew who, as Catriona Lambert, won the 1991 Scottish women's amateur championship over the Carnoustie links, beating Fiona Anderson (Blairgowrie) in the final.