Celtic Fans Throw Tennis Balls at Owner Dermot Desmond During Dunhill Links at St Andrews

A golf tournament at the home of golf was interrupted by a football protest on Saturday, when Celtic supporters threw dozens of tennis balls at club owner Dermot Desmond on the 15th green of the Old Course at St Andrews. Desmond was playing the third round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship pro-am alongside Brooks Koepka when the balls, each carrying a sticker with Desmond’s face crossed out, rained down around the green, GOLF.com reports. Nobody was hurt, but Celtic have since severed all ties with the fan group that claimed responsibility and promised indefinite stadium bans.

What happened at the 15th hole at St Andrews?

Dozens of tennis balls came over the edge of the course while Desmond and Koepka were on the 15th green during Saturday’s third round, according to GOLF.com. The Celtic Fans Collective posted video of the protest on social media the same afternoon, and witnesses reported that the protesters wore balaclavas, FOGOLF reports.

Desmond stood still and stared toward the protesters as the balls bounced around the green. He was escorted off the course at the conclusion of the day’s action, and play in the DP World Tour event continued around the interruption.

Who is Dermot Desmond, and why was he at a golf tournament?

Desmond is an Irish billionaire and the longtime majority shareholder of Celtic Football Club. He was at St Andrews as a competitor, not a spectator: the Dunhill Links pairs professionals with amateur partners across three courses, and understanding what a pro-am is in golf explains how a football club owner ends up on the 15th green of one of the oldest golf courses in the world with a five-time major champion. The Old Course has also hosted The Open more often than any other venue, which is why the record for most Open Championship wins is bound up with its history.

That visibility was the point. Desmond rarely appears where Celtic supporters can reach him, and the pro-am entry list is published in advance, so the group knew exactly where he would be and when.

Why did the protesters choose tennis balls?

Tennis balls are this support’s signature protest method. Celtic fans have thrown them onto the pitch at Celtic Park repeatedly in past disputes with the ownership, FOGOLF reports, because a court full of balls stops play, photographs clearly and injures no one.

Exporting the method to golf changed the meaning. At Celtic Park the protest happens inside the club’s own house; at St Andrews it landed on one of the hardest golf courses in the world during another sport’s broadcast, which is why the club’s response treated it as an escalation rather than a repeat.

What did the Celtic Fans Collective say?

The group claimed responsibility in its video post. “Dermot Desmond has essentially been allowed to run Celtic Football Club whilst using his wealth to hide from supporters and accountability,” the statement read. “Fans took the chance today to send a message that this arrangement cannot continue.”

The grievance, in short, is governance: a principal shareholder the fans say they cannot question, challenge or remove. The Dunhill protest was designed to deny him the one thing the statement says he relies on, privacy in public life.

How did Celtic Football Club respond?

Celtic condemned the disruption in the strongest terms, calling it a premeditated action, in a club statement reported by GOLF.com. The club said those responsible had brought shame on Celtic’s name, and drew a line between protests at Celtic events and this one: “This time, the disruption was taken entirely outside Celtic and outside football, intruding upon an unrelated sporting event and targeting an individual while participating in that event in a private capacity.”

The consequences are concrete. Celtic said it will no longer recognize the Celtic Fans Collective as a representative body, has ceased all engagement with it, and is examining the footage, with anyone established to have planned or taken part to be banned indefinitely from Celtic Park.

What did Police Scotland say, and what happens next?

A Police Scotland spokesperson said officers were aware of tennis balls being thrown on the course at around 2 p.m. on Saturday, October 3, 2026, that there were no reports of injuries, and that enquiries are ongoing, FOGOLF reports.

What happens next runs on three tracks: the police enquiry, the club’s identification and ban process, and the Collective’s response to being formally disowned by the club it supports. The Dunhill Links itself finished on Sunday at St Andrews, but the protest has already outlasted the tournament it interrupted.