https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/glasgow-tees-up-closure-of-five-golf-courses-lrktp2v75Glasgow tees up closure of five golf courses
Charlie Parker
Wednesday January 29 2020
Golfers are concerned for the future of municipal courses after Glasgow said it planned to close five of its six clubs.
It is understood that the move could save £530,000, but it has not yet been finalised. Last year councillors in Dundee voted to close one of two public courses to save almost £400,000 in annual subsidies. In Edinburgh, council chiefs, who expect to have to find up to £40 million in savings from their budget for 2021-22, are considering a review of subsidies of six public courses.
Andrew McKinlay, the chief executive of Scottish Golf (SG), said that municipal courses were “the fabric of the grassroots game in Scotland”, adding: “In certain local authorities the municipal course finds itself as a direct competitor to [private] clubs offering discounted rates via third parties.”
Camperdown golf course in Dundee is due to close this year in a move that one opposition official described as “cultural vandalism”. The club has only 90 members, and the number of rounds played has fallen from 23,968 in 2009-2010 to 17,369 in 2018-19.
Five courses managed by Glasgow Life, the cultural and sporting arm of the city council, could also be closed to save money. Littlehill, Lethamhill, Linn Park, Ruchill and Alexandra Park courses are all under threat.
An official document has set out options to help the council to save a total of £50 million. It says that more than half a million pounds could be saved by closing all the public golf clubs apart from the nine holes at Knightswood.
Glasgow Life launched a public consultation over the “low usage” and “substantial annual deficit” in keeping the courses going.
David Doig, of the Lothians Golf Association, said that the other councils could soon follow Glasgow’s lead.
“The Braids golf course in Edinburgh, for example, went from two 18-hole golf courses to an 18 and a nine,” he said. “We’re concerned the golf courses are closing across Scotland and in the Lothian area as well.
“A few years ago we lost a couple of clubs through lack of members but a lot of the closure of the council courses is more about the lack of finances to keep them to a condition that they need them to be at. They’re public golf courses so there’s no membership allocation to them. They’re obviously not raking in enough money to keep their head above water.”
Mr McKinlay said that SG aimed to make the sport more attractive to younger people.
A spokesman for Glasgow council said: “We need to make budget savings which could be in the region of £50 million. The cross-party budget working group asked officers for savings options. All parties have received the same information and they will present their budgets at a meeting on February 20.”