FUTURE tennis and golf stars will soon be able to develop their skills at the UK's most advanced public sports complex.

Budding Andy Murrays and Colin Montgomeries will be able to access a new £20million multi-sports centre on the outskirts of Glasgow near East Kilbride from early next year.

Playsport Scotland will be spread over 100 acres and aims to give more Scots the chance to play golf, football and tennis in top class facilities.

It will boast the country's first tribute' golf course, featuring a collection of famous holes from British Open venues such as St Andrews, Carnoustie, Turnberry and Muirfield.

The centre will also house eight indoor tennis courts - the largest training facility of its type in Britain - along with a 60-bay, two-tier driving range, 10 football pitches and a 250,000 sq ft indoor sports centre.

The sprawling complex is taking shape on land beside the Kingsgate Retail Park and is scheduled to open to the public in March 2009.

Backers hope the venue will attract tens of thousands of people who are not members of private clubs.

Jimmy Wallace, Playgolf's commercial director, 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 is now an acute national problem and the appetite to change this, particularly within government and local authorities, is growing.

"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."

The company behind the multi-million pound project also owns the award-winning Northwick Park Majors Course in London which recreates some of the most famous holes in world golf, including the 12th and 16th at Augusta.

Although prices have still to be confirmed, backers insist the green fees will be set at around the same level for municipal courses in Scotland.

The nine-hole course will follow the Powerplay Golf format - billed as golf's answer to Twenty20 cricket, a shorter, more accessible form of the sport.

Each green will house two flags, one in a relatively easy position and one in a much trickier place. Players score points depending on what pin position they play.

The venture is the result of a partnership between Playgolf Holdings plc, South Lanarkshire Council and Kilmartin Property Group.

Playsport Scotland will also cater for badminton, baseball, and rock climbing, and will include shops, restaurants and an aerial assault course.

The Lawn Tennis Association and Tennis Scotland are backing the new indoor courts.

It's hoped the centre's eight courts will attract major national events and act as a training academy for the country's best young talent.

St Andrews	Muirfield	Carnoustie	East Kilbride

Andy Murray was forced to quit Scotland and move to Barcelona at the age of 15 to attend the prestigious Sánchez-Casal Academy because of the dearth of facilities in Scotland.

His mum Judy, the LTA's Talent and Performance Manager for Scotland, said: "There is a big drive by the LTA to identify talent across Britain but in order to develop that talent we need more indoor courts.

"There has never been a better time to attract kids into tennis in Scotland and the scale of the Playsport facility will provide a huge opportunity not just for training but for major competitions too."