Over £10,000 raised as global golf community rallies to help rebuild Edinburgh’s new Swanston Golf Academy destroyed by fire on Hogmanay

Details of how the fire started remain unclear but PGA golf coach, Mike McNally, believes it may have been deliberate.

The global golfing community is now rallying to help pay for the rebuild as it appears their insurance will only cover part of it - and more than £10,800 has been raised so far.

Mr McNally, 30, said the Swanston Golf Academy opened up in the summer after the first Covid lockdown and that they have seen a big influx of junior golfers this year.

The fire means the club’s members, visitors and 170 juniors will no longer be able to practice their golf at the purpose built academy, which has four driving range bays and a specialist coaching bay where the latest swing radar technology was used as part of the training.

Coach Peter Arnott told the Edinburgh Evening News: “Words fail me, we are all devastated. Especially as the facility has become a real community for golfers who love to practice and that’s been taken from them.

“In supporting the local golfing community we were due to launch the Swanston Golf Academy website on New Year’s Day with structured learning programmes for the over 170 junior members, ladies, girl, beginners, recreational golfer and elite pathways.

“This will obviously now be delayed. We’ve been blown away with the support from the golfing community, from all corners of the world. Even from as far afield as the Northern Territories in Australia. We would love it if you could help us out too in any way you could.”

Building and van destroyed

Mr McNally said Swanston based club fitter Scott Gourlay has allowed them to continue with coaching on Monday for the next three weeks by enabling use of two bays at his facility located next door.

As well as the driving range bays and coaching bay, the fire destroyed a van parked beside the building and some recently bought floodlighting as well as some iPads and two big televisions locked inside.

Mr McNally said the golf academy was meant to be the legacy of Swanston club captain Graeme Millar.

A Scottish Fire and Rescue Service spokesperson confirmed they were called to the fire at around 11:45pm on December 30.

The GoFundme page for the rebuild has raised more than £10,800 as of 5:30pm on Friday and the target has been set at £50,000.

The fundraising page says the fire has come as a “devastating blow” to what has already been a particularly trying year for everyone

Anyone who would like to donate to help with the rebuild of Swanston Golf Academy can do so HERE.

A message from the Editor:

Thank you for reading this article. We're more reliant on your support than ever as the shift in consumer habits brought about by coronavirus impacts our advertisers.

If you haven't already, please consider supporting our trusted, fact-checked journalism by taking out a digital subscription.