The entertainment business collaboration between Tiger Woods and Justin Timberlake, the American singer, songwriter, and actor, was announced last year. They first launched their sports bar concept, T-Squared Social, in New York City and then they also had plans to expand to St. Andrews, Scotland. However, this idea angered a lot of residents of St. Andrews. Despite the disagreement of the locals, the duo are moving forward with the idea.
In July this year, the duo received approval from Fife Council to open a second T-Squared Social in St Andrews. Later, in an interview with the BBC, they revealed plans to convert the New Picture House Cinema into their second bar, featuring dining, entertainment options, sports simulators, duckpin bowling, and darts. Yes, the sports bar in Scotland will have golf simulators as well.
However, the movie screens which were built back in 1930 will remain to keep the building’s original purpose. Woods and Timberlake have also been granted a drinks license for their new sports bar. With everything finalized, they will begin the work on the venue before the end of 2024, as revealed on the Daily Mail website.
After the launch of the first T-Squared Social last year, many locals were angry at the golfer and Timberlake when they heard about moving the concept to Scotland. Despite having a rich history with the Old Course, as he won the Open at St. Andrews in 2000 and 2005, Woods came under scrutiny from the locals.
What do residents think of Tiger Woods and Timberlake’s plans?
Neil Dobson, the community council member of St Andrews said, “I find this very disrespectful and a bit cheeky, to be honest,” hearing the idea of the sports bar. Meanwhile, another resident said “It’s astonishing a university town loses its cinema to a multi-millionaire celebrity vanity project,” as revealed on Golf Monthly.
One member even took Woods’ history with St. Andrews into account and said “This town has been very good to Tiger Woods and this is not the way to repay residents. St Andrews is unique and that building is iconic. An American bar is completely out of keeping.”
Some also think that the development of this sports bar will hurt St. Andrews in a way that there will be nothing left for the children to enjoy. The cinema St. Andrews has been there since 1930 carrying a lot of memories throughout these years. And people don’t want all this to go away. However, despite the outrage, Woods is still moving forward with the plan.
What do you think about the outrage at St. Andrews? Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments below!
