As much as I am loving the fact that the Walker Cup will be held on my doorstep , as with Nairn , there will be consequences for local golfers .
http://www.pressandjournal.co.uk/Article.aspx/910363/?UserKey=Balgownie golfers to vote on plan to cut Silverburn course
Published: 29/10/2008Royal Aberdeen Golf Club’s second course could be cut from 18 to nine holes to make way for a new practice facility.
A plan to make ground available for an upgrade of the facilities by reducing the Silverburn course from 18 to nine holes will be voted on at an extraordinary general meeting of the members in the new year.
Improving the Balgownie practice facilities has been on the agenda of successive Royal Aberdeen councils for years and reports on the subject were commissioned from golf course design firm Donald Steel and company in 1993 and again in 2003.
This year, another company, Martin Hawtree and Son, was asked by the club to report on whether it would be possible to construct a practice facility while retaining 18 holes on the Silverburn.
The report said this was not possible and if the club wanted to create a modern and useful practice ground, the most logical location would be on the site of the second, third and fourth holes on the Silverburn.
The plans include:
A practice ground 330 yards in length, running from approximately the location of the fifth tee of the Silverburn course towards the present third green on the number two course.
A four-hole practice course on the ground currently occupied by the first, fifth and sixth holes over the Silverburn.
The retention of the short-game practice area.
A longer and much improved nine-hole Silverburn course.
A practice green and chipping area next to the Aberdeen Ladies clubhouse.
In a letter to the Royal Aberdeen members, club captain David Davidson has said the proposed development would not be completed until after the Walker Cup – the biennial amateur match between Great Britain and Ireland and America’s best amateur players – is staged at the course in 2011.
Davidson stated: “These proposals would also free up land capable of increasing the available car parking spaces, which is now becoming a problem at weekends when cars are now resorting to parking on the Silverburn.
“Council recognises that this is an emotive issue which will arouse strong feelings.
“It has long been acknowledged that our practice ground is well below the standards of the remainder of the club’s facilities. Council believes for a practice facility to be viable, it should be situated close to the clubhouse for security purposes and to enable it to be used easily for warming-up and tuition.”
Royal Aberdeen Golf Club, founded in 1780, is the sixth oldest golf club in the world.
It has no female members but the Aberdeen Ladies Golf Club clubhouse is close to the first tee of the Silverburn course.
Aberdeen Ladies’ silver division players pay higher subscription fees than the bronze division because they are permitted to play over the Balgownie links, while the female players with higher handicaps are restricted to the shorter 4,021yd par-64 Silverburn course.