Well, at least it wasn’t rocks and bottles.
In a rather clever, if still disrupting protest, demonstrators expressing their frustration with the Celtic Football Club’s billionaire owner tossed dozens of tennis balls at the Irishman during Saturday’s round of the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship.
In an unprecedented scene at St. Andrews’ Old Course, Dermot Desmond was competing alongside Brooks Koepka when the protest ensued at the 15th green. Video shows Desmond standing mostly still, gazing at the crowd and holding his putter as balls bounce around him. The balls, which appeared to be tossed rather than thrown with any velocity, were wrapped in paper with Desmond’s face scored out on it.
Celtic principal shareholder Dermot Desmond was targeted by a group of protestors while he was playing at the Alfred Dunhill Links Championship today.
The Irish billionaire and his son, Ross, are competing at the golf tournament in St Andrews this weekend.
A group of protestors… pic.twitter.com/gC3vYtS9AT
— Anthony Joseph (@AnthonyRJoseph) October 3, 2026
Like the Pebble Beach Pro-Am, the Dunhill Links is the most prestigious event that an amateur golfer can play on the DP World Tour. Desmond, 76, continued to play after the protest and when he finished at the famous 18th, he was escorted away from the course in a golf cart.
Fans are disgruntled with Desmond, the club’s majority shareholder, amid issues that Celtic has faced on and off the field—though the club is unbeaten in its first seven games of the Scottish Premiership season. The Celtic Fans Collective issued a statement about the St. Andrews incident: “Dermot Desmond has essentially been allowed to run Celtic Football Club whilst using his wealth to hide from supporters and accountability. Fans took the chance today to send a message that this arrangement cannot continue.”
A Police Scotland spokesperson said no injuries were reported and that “enquiries are ongoing.”
On Saturday evening, Celtic issued a statement condemning the “premeditated action” that “brought shame upon” the name of the club.
Said the staterment: Celtic Football Club has never sought to prevent supporters from expressing criticism of the club, its board or its shareholders. Supporters are entitled to disagree with decisions, to make their views known and to protest peacefully. What occurred at St Andrews represents a significant and unacceptable escalation.
“Those responsible have brought shame upon the name of Celtic Football Club and upon a reputation which generations of Celtic supporters have spent more than a century building. The club no longer accepts that the Celtic Fans Collective can credibly claim to represent the wider Celtic support. Those responsible for today’s events certainly do not speak for the many thousands of Celtic supporters who express their views passionately, peacefully and responsibly.”
This article was originally published on golfdigest.com
