Seamus McDonagh is a member of Narin and Portnoo Golf Club. He told the Donegal News yesterday it was unfortunate that things had escalated as far as they have.
"As an ordinary member, I don't understand how it has come to this," Mr McDonagh said.
"The club has a lot of bookings for 2018 and people from all over America and Europe will have been planning to come and play here. With the situation the way it is, they have to be saying, let's not take the chance."
Mr McDonagh said that in light of the discord, "not a penny" in membership fees had been drawn in for the year ahead. As a result, the club has run out of cash.
Mr McDonagh added that the situation involving the new owner was "about money."
He said that as far as he was aware there were no negotiations taking place at the moment to try and resolve the impasse.
"The landowner is getting part of the blame but there is a deal in place. It is what the new owner wants to add to the deal that is the problem. I do think there is a bit of blame on both sides."
"It is sad that it has come to this because most members just want to play golf," Mr McDonagh said.
Jon-
As different as our two private club models might be, there is one common denominator, it is "about money". As the N & P member notes in the article, the new Irish owner of the club is willing to "forgive" the €1.7 lien in favor of the club and provide a licensing agreement that would "guarantee" its future.
We are not privy to that agreement or to the details of the negotiations with the lessor of the land on which all or parts of three holes are sited (does anyone know which holes are involved? holes 4, 5, and 6 possibly?). We do know that the club failed to meet its obligations and defaulted on a €1.7 Million loan owned by the so-called "vulture" fund.
What is telling from the member's comments is that the blame for the closing is placed solely on the new owner and the lessor. As he says, "It is sad that it has come to this because most members just want to play golf,".
And perhaps therein lies the major difference in the way we see the world. We all "just want to play golf". We just don't all have the same reflex regarding who should pay for it.
Apparently, the revenues generated by the €80 visitor fee when added to those paid by members weren't sufficient to cover obligations. Some here have said that the €80 wasn't excessive. The laws of Supply and Demand suggest otherwise. Perhaps there isn't a price point where the club can carry such debt, and maybe the members just have to reconcile their desires with their ability and willingness to pay for fulfilling them.
Jerry,
Whatever Keiser builds over there, my bet is that it will be levels above N & P, and better located and amenitized. Like Sean and Frank, I have reservations about the sustainability of ultra-expensive destination golf in remote locations, but it has become nearly impossible to build high quality courses near most population centers. I do wonder what's going to happen to golf when my Baby Boomer generation hangs up the sticks. Who is going to journey to N & P? I think you are right, such courses will need to look directly to its members for survival. And properly so, IMO.