Golf: Lothian clubs in survival struggle

In the past, the majority of clubs in the Lothians, which has more golf courses than anywhere else in Scotland, had long waiting lists and talk of financial troubles was as rare as a sighting of Tiger Woods since his world was turned upside down.

But, as the sport continues to suffer from the recession – in Scotland alone membership levels are down 2.6 per cent in the men's game and 4.6 per cent in the women's game – even some of the more established clubs in the Capital and surrounding areas are feeling the pinch.

They have been forced to put up huge banners in prominent positions on clubhouses to advertise memberships, have held Open Days to let potential members see what's on offer and, in some cases, have even scrapped their joining fee.

Desperate times have called for desperate measures and one club has even dispensed with both its professional and secretary in a bid to cut costs.

Others have had to cut back on greenkeeping staff and the situation may get worse before it gets better.

A number of clubs are currently in the middle of their annual membership renewal process and the early indications suggest that the levels are still dropping despite the efforts to, at the very least, halt the decline.

"We've had a further fall at the start of this year of around about 20 full members and half a dozen five-day members," revealed Louis Fairlie, secretary/manager at Kingsknowe.

According to Fairlie, the majority of those giving up memberships are people who don't feel they are getting value for money due to the fact they perhaps can't get out on the golf course as much as they used to.

"The hard-nosed golfers, the ones who play 15-20 medals a year and are out every weekend, are sticking by the system," he added.

"However, the people on the periphery of golf, those who have knee or back problems or don't play enough due to business or family commitments, are giving up their memberships because they are not finding value for money at this time."

One of the clubs hardest hit by a falling membership is Torphin Hill.

Where it once had close to 500 members, that figure is now nearer the 300 mark and, over the last year or so, both the professional and the secretary have departed without being replaced.

"Those decisions were both purely financial," said Colin Gallacher, the club captain and a Torphin Hill member for as long as he cares to remember. "At the moment, we are keeping our head above water but we are having to fight to keep costs down. The greenstaff may not have been happy about certain things we have done but they've accepted the situation because it is better to have a job than not."

A few miles along the city bypass, Lothianburn are trying their hardest to attract new members but appear to be fighting a losing battle if an initiative they launched last year is anything to go by. The club offered a special summer membership at half the rate being paid by full members and had around 40 people take up that offer.

However, the initial boost that created has been dampened by the fact that only four of them have since gone on to become full members of the club.

"That is disappointing," admitted Lothianburn captain David McBain, who revealed the unrest such offers can have within clubs.

"When we introduced the summer membership last year I promised the members it would be a one-off because some of them were upset to be paying 580 for a full year and seeing others coming in for six months at a lesser rate.

"Therefore, we'll have to go down a different route this year when we look at offers."

In Fairlie's opinion, that route shouldn't simply be a case of clubs ditching the joining fee. "We feel it is essential to the fabric of a golf club," he said.

That view was echoed by a fellow club secretary, who wished to remain anonymous as he warned that "a few clubs could go to the wall in the next year or two". He added: "Twenty or twenty five years ago, there were big waiting lists and people knew that if they left a club they'd struggle to get back in. Now they can almost pick a different club each year and, at a lot of them, they won't even have to pay a joining fee – that's proving a big carrot for some people."

Newbattle were one of the clubs that held an Open Day last year, attracting more than 100 people to the Eskbank course for an event which included a game of golf and a buffet for 5. "Our recruitment day was very successful and it was needed as the waiting list was exhausted," said a club spokesman. "It used to be that an average of 15 or so would drop off annually for one reason or another but last year we suddenly got 40 either leaving or looking for their membership suspended, leaving a vacuum. We put a big sign up at the gate and the response to that was amazing, as was the Open Day."

At a time when every penny counts, the last thing a lot of clubs needed was the recent bad weather, which not only stopped people getting out on the course but also hit traffic in clubhouses.

"The last five or six weeks have been tough for everyone," noted Fairlie at Kingsknowe, where an active tightening of the belt has seen the club put on hold a project to upgrade all of its greens to USPGA standard.

If membership levels continue to fall, it seems inevitable that at least one golf club in the Lothians will be shutting its doors before too long and, for those brought up in an era of those long waiting lists, that will come as much of a surprise as the world No.1 seeing his life go off the rails as spectacularly as it has over the past few months.

City's municipal courses picking up players

AS membership levels at golf clubs in the Capital drop, it seems that more people are turning to the city's municipal courses.

The total number of rounds for April-December last year at Edinburgh Leisure's six courses – Braid Hills, Carrick Knowe, Craigentinny, Portobello, Princes and Silverknowes – was seven per cent higher than the same period in 2008. The total golf income for the same period was also seven per cent higher (72,000) than last year.

Edinburgh Leisure had a 28 per cent increase in sales of annual season tickets for April to September 2009 compared to the same period the previous year while more than 500 winter season tickets – this offer runs from 1 October until 31 March – were sold last year and this year is looking equally successful.

David Atkinson, Golf Course Manager for Edinburgh Leisure, said: "We have no plans for cost-cutting measures in relation to greenkeeping/course maintenance. We feel it's vital that we do all we can to retain or improve the quality of our courses in what is becoming an ever more competitive marketplace."