New Links St Andrews completed its twentieth year of activity in 2025 by bringing together young people from the United States, Barbados, and Scotland to enjoy a week of sporting and educational activities at the Home of Golf. 

Founded in 2006, New Links has now hosted over two hundred school aged visitors who have travelled from as far afield as South Africa, Kenya, China, and Hawaii, integrating them with local counterparts. 

Michael Lowe of US-wide initiative Youth on Course, which underwrites rounds of golf at $5 per person, chaperoned four teens chosen from the organization’s scholarship programme. 

“Travel is such an enabling way to learn about ourselves, our place in the world, what makes different cultures unique but also their similarities; what brings people together. We had three countries represented, from very different parts of the world. Very few experience this and at such a young age”.

Richard Forde, founder of FordesGolf, brought a foursome from his home of Barbados.

“The camaraderie between the two groups was fantastic. Every day they were all dressed up and ready to go, messaging each other, and later sitting together and talking about their common interests. It was absolutely outstanding”.

The itinerary included rounds of golf on The Old Course, The Eden Course, and The Jubilee Course at St Andrews Links, with an aperitif lesson at the Golf Academy, a morning at Kingarrock Hickory Golf Course, an evening at Kingsbarns, and a whole day at Elie, where they took on The Baird 9-holer and then the full sized Golf House Club course, parts of which go back to 1589 making it an archetypal place to try out the sport. The Golf House Club itself was celebrating its 150th anniversary. The group also visited the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, the University of St Andrews, the World Golf Museum, and the R&A’s equipment testing centre. They also found time to paddleboard on a sparkling North Sea and joust it out on the Himalayas putting course. 

It’s all about access

New Links began the relationship with Youth on Course in 2009, when it was active in northern California; now it reaches every state in the US and has expanded into Canada.

The trip to Scotland is an extension to the fantastic work Youth on Course is doing to give young people from all backgrounds a chance to try golf. 

“It’s all about access,” says Michael. “We are directly addressing the economics of the sport. We have 375,000 members now. We have a strategic plan to serve 500,000 by 2029, and we could surpass that significantly. The true power of Youth of Course is in making golf accessible to communities it has not been available to before. We have subsidised four million rounds of golf, one million in the last year alone”.

Specifically, the trip to St Andrews can help to anchor participants proudly within their families and neighbourhoods, while also showing them that they can carry their identities into a wider world.

The scholars have all succeeded at high school, but have also contributed to the places they live and to Youth on Course, fundraising and volunteering, becoming leaders and mentors. 

Isabella Herrera from San Jose, California, is going to the University of Southern California to study business and economics, Nicole Iniakov of Prunedale, California, plans to study government at Harvard, Marlon Utrera junior from Kailua-Kona, Hawaii, is going to Babson College to study film and media production and entrepreneurship, and Jonathan Moon of Ellicot City, Maryland, intends to major in global affairs and ethics at Hamilton College.

“The kids were excited to walk the same fairways that not only the great golfers have walked, but the same path as generations of golfers. The connections with the rest of the group…some will keep in touch for years, but regardless of how long their relationships last they share the memories they’ve made here”.

A great example

Julia Regis, who took part in last year’s activities, introduced Richie to New Links and his group – Jonathan Broome, Taija Hurley-Dutton, N’Kyah Myers, and Kiara Wilson – was drawn from his FordesGolf initiative.

“Julia is a great example to everyone, with her friendship and advice, giving us this opportunity to broaden the horizons of our local kids”.

Richie saw the changes that a trip like this can bring in only a short time.

“Jonathan grew into a leader of people; this gave him an opportunity to do that. Taija and N’Kyah are in the infancy of their golf, but they have grown exponentially in the way they play and think about the game. Kiara, she opened up, being with other people, she grew more and more communicative. I knew they all had the capacity to join in and now they feel more grown up.

“We all need people to look up to; they can be those people”.

Local support

New Links co-founder Kenny Wood expressed his gratitude to local people who helped make the event a success.

“We want to thank Joelle Millar for again being part of the group. She led the way around The Old Course and has been a wonderful ally. Adam Duncan has been a fundamental part of New Links since 2019 and he is such an open and good-natured young man. His hole in one on the eighteenth of the Himalayas is now legendary. It was a pleasure to welcome along New Links first-timers Ewen Hamilton, Archie Hamilton, and Aaron Menzies; they played so well and contributed massively off course. Bertie Faulkner, Angus Brown, Conor Wardlaw, and Archie Pogrel joined us at Elie; they extended warmth and friendship on what was a fabulous day out.  

“Thanks also to all those who helped to put our programme in place: The Royal and Ancient Golf Club’s Town Fund; St Andrews Links Trust, especially Sandra Docherty; Claudia, Barbara, and Catriona at Kingarrock; Alan Hogg, Audrey Hogg, and Garry Forrester at Kingsbarns; Amy Wood and Andrew Wood at Elie; Ian Scott at Allan Robertson House, the R&A test centre; Guy McKenzie and Jamie McKenzie at Blown Away; Hannah Fleming at the World Golf Museum; Trudy Anderson and Lynne Page at Club Cars; Bobby Millar at Auchterlonies; Alasdair Wilde at the university of St Andrews; and the staff at David Russell Apartments, a university facility, where participants enjoyed individual en suite rooms.

“We had the most wonderful hospitality from Mark Rigg of Links Golf St Andrews and from Seamus Coen of Russacks Hotel. 

“We also thank Matt Ginella, Cormac Downes, and Steve Martin for joining us this summer. They were good company and we all look forward to meeting them again.

Thank you, Wilson

“Finally, New Links would like to pay tribute to Wilson Sibbett. Wilson was a very early supporter of New Links, inviting the first groups into the Royal and Ancient Golf Club, of which he was chairman at the time, and offering us encouragement and advice ever after. He passed at the end of last year. Wilson’s family donated a significant sum to assist in the staging of the New Links event of 2025. We were proud to accept their kindness and we know Wilson would have approved of all that took place this summer”.