GOLFERS and special guests at the Troon Open will have the luxury of being transported via Mercedes from Marr College hockey pitch.

Over 100 mystery Mercedes Benz and 25 mini buses appeared on the pitch last Wednesday and caused some confusion amongst locals who believed the playing filed was being used as a car park for the media.

The pitch will still be used as a car park for the media who will then be shuttled to the championships on one of the 25 shuttle busses.

Cllr Nan McFarlane, spoke to the Troon Times, said: "I am completely baffled on how this is going to work. Are they bringing people from the golf or are they picking people up?

"I don't know who is going to use them. I opposed the original proposal to allow the media to park on the pitch because I am worried about the consequences this will have."

There has already been some dispute on allowing the media to park on the hockey pitch during the Open this week.

The decision was made by the Marr Trust who granted permission to South Ayrshire Council to lease the playing field for the tournament.

But not everyone agrees this was the right decision.

Speaking at a recent Troon Community Council meeting Cllr Nan McFarlane, said: "I am worried they are going to be using the hockey pitch. My concern is that it will not be playable when the school opens back up.

"We have already had one year battling people parking on that pitch. I have grave concerns about when the Open finishes and we get our all weather pitch back and people try to park on it.

"I want to clarify that the Trust are the landlords and the Council are the leasee. There is nothing legally that would stop this from happening."

June Thornhill of the Marr Trust, said: "We were asked for a lease to allow parking at Marr College to go ahead by the council. We wanted to bring this before the community council."

It was also brought to the attention of TCC that parking restrictions on Golf Crescent may not be observed by the golfers who regularly park there.

Cllr McFarlane asked: "Golfers come and park on the edge of Golf Crescent. I don't suppose they will know it is 'no parking' when the Open comes?"

Inspector Alister Kelly responded: "It is restricted parking. Any vehicle parked where they should not be will be removed. But there are not any parking restrictions in the same way as 2004."