Playsport Scotland is a £20 million PowerPlay for golf and multi-sports complex

Sir Ian Botham backs major new destination, set to open in East Kilbride with links golf ‘tribute course’ at its heart

A massive 100-acre £20m multi-sports complex combining golf, football, tennis and swimming will see East Kilbride, in Scotland, boast the most advanced public sports facility in the UK.

Playsport Scotland, which will open in March next year, will be home to Scotland’s first ‘tribute’ golf course, based on some of Great Britain’s most famous links holes, and designed to cater for fans of the sport’s latest innovation, PowerPlay Golf. The complex will also feature a 220,000sq ft sports hub housing a wide-range of world-class sports and leisure activities.

The project will create around 200 new jobs and is the result of a partnership between Playgolf Holdings plc, South Lanarkshire Council, and Kilmartin Property Group.

Playgolf Holdings is the organisation behind the award-winning Playgolf Northwick Park ‘Majors’ course in London, inspired by some of the most famous holes in the world of golf (including the 12th and 16th at Augusta). The company also has other facilities in Hendon and Manchester, and was instrumental in the global launch of PowerPlay Golf, the two-flag game rated by many as golf’s equivalent to Twenty20 cricket.

The East Kilbride project is Playgolf’s largest and most ambitious venture to date. Sporting superstar Sir Ian Botham, for one, believes it will be something special.

Botham, a spokesman for PowerPlay Golf, said: “The PowerPlay Golf course at Playsport Scotland is going to be spectacular. It will appeal to seasoned golfers, plus it will bring a lot of newcomers into the game.”

The state-of-the-art multi-sport venue will cover an area roughly the same size of London’s Canary Wharf and will feature:

• A unique ‘tribute’ golf course, designed by former British and World Amateur champion Peter McEvoy, permanently set up for Powerplay Golf
• A 58-bay two-tier heated and floodlit driving range
• The UK’s largest indoor tennis centre
• A 25,000 sq ft state-of-the-art health & fitness centre
• A 25-metre swimming pool
• 2 x 7-a-side and 8 x 5-a-side football pitches
• A 36,000 sq ft Kids’ zone
• Over 20,000 sq ft of retail space and restaurants.

The famous British links holes which were used by golf course architect Peter McEvoy OBE as inspiration for the layout at Playsport Scotland are:

The Scottish Government’s Sports Minister, Stewart Maxwell, said: “If we are to increase participation levels in sport and improve the health and wellbeing of the nation, it is essential that we offer quality facilities that are affordable and accessible. I welcome this innovative partnership between the public and private sectors in delivering a wide range of facilities that will be attractive to those who wish to participate in sport and also those who just want to exercise and increase their fitness levels. I look forward to hearing about the success of the Playsport Scotland facility in getting people of all ages involved in sports such as tennis & golf in the area.”

Playgolf’s commercial director, Jimmy Wallace, said: “This groundbreaking project is at the forefront of the development of public sports destinations in the UK. The dearth of good quality public sports facilities in Britain is now an acute national problem and the appetite to change this, particularly within government and local authorities, is growing enormously.

“Work is well underway on our first Scottish venture and we’re tremendously excited about the huge potential to make a significant and beneficial impact on sports participation locally and nationally. A key part of our offering is about bringing down the barriers that exist in golf and tennis – or any of the sports we feature – by increasing access and encouraging participation.
“ We have a great track record as a provider of community golf services thanks to partnerships with various local authorities in the UK and we’re delighted to be working alongside South Lanarkshire Council to develop a multi-sport facility that will benefit the local community hugely, as well as sports enthusiasts of all ages throughout Scotland.”
Leader of South Lanarkshire Council, Councillor Eddie McAvoy, said: “We are delighted to be involved in such an exciting development as Playsport Scotland.

“We are hopeful of securing the International Children’s Games for Lanarkshire in 2011 and this type of facility is exactly what is needed to help nurture and inspire the next generation of world-class athletes. The fact that so many jobs are being created reinforces the fact the project will have a tremendous benefit to the local community and beyond.”

Playsport Scotland is situated in a prime location beside the Kingsgate Retail Park in Stewartfield, East Kilbride, approximately a 20 minute drive from the centre of Glasgow.