Coronavirus: Council courses in Edinburgh join Lanarkshire ones on closure list

Council-run golf courses in Edinburgh are being closed due to the coronavirus, mirroring a move in Lanarkshire

Langlands Golf Club in East Kilbride is one of the council courses that have been closed in Lanarkshire due to the coronavirus pandemic

The Edinburgh Leisure courses, which include the Braid Hills, Silverknowes, Carrick Knowe and Craigentinny, will shut from "close of play" tomorrow.

The decision was revealed in a statement and follows today's announcement from First Minister Nicola Sturgeon that schools in Scotland will close from Friday.

June Peebles, CEO of Edinburgh Leisure said: “These are unprecedented and challenging times for everyone and we are communicating this news to all our stakeholders which includes staff, customers, service providers, tenants, partners, suppliers and volunteers as soon as possible.

“Like so many others affected by this pandemic, it is worrying times for everyone including our staff.

"Edinburgh Leisure is a charity; and every penny we receive from memberships, lets, events and funding is reinvested back into our venues and funds the services that we provide – therefore shutting our venues and therefore freezing customers’ memberships has huge consequences for us and also the health of Edinburgh.

“We really hope that once the situation passes that customers will return to Edinburgh Leisure venues to keep active and stay active once again and to continue supporting us as they have done for the last 22 years.”

All the courses operated by North and South Lanarkshire Councils have also been shut as part of leisure and sports venues being closed in the areas.

One of the venues affected is Langlands Golf Club in East Kilbride, with confirmation of its closure, though the clubhouse there remains open, being confirmed in a statement by the club.

It read: "South Lanarkshire have today announced that they have made the decision to close all of their leisure and sports venues.

"We hope this is not for too long, however at this time cannot advise a date when Langlands Golf Club will re-open.

"We would like to thank our members for all the support they continue to give to the club.

"We recognise that it's a worrying time for everyone, not least us, as we obviously want to stay in business to continue to provide golf club services to our members and guests for many years to come."

Biggar, Hollandbush, Torrance House, Larkhall and Strathclyde Park are other clubs listed on a South Lanarkshire Council website with Palacerigg and Lochview both operated by North Lanarkshire Council.

On the tournament front, the US PGA Championship, which had been due to be held at TPC Harding Park in San Francisco in May, is the second men's major to be postponed.

That news was quickly followed by the PGA Tour announcing it had added four more events to its list of postponements.

Also now called off are the RBC Heritage (April 13-19), Zurich Classic of New Orleans (April 20-26), Wells Fargo Championship (April 27-May 3) and AT&T Byron Nelson (May 4-10).

At the moment, the USGA is "holding" the dates US Open at Winged Foot in June, though local qualifying events for that major have already been scrapped.

On the Champions Tour, one of its majors, The Regions Tradition, has been moved from May to a new September slot.

The Andalucia Masters, which had been due to take place at Valderrama at the end of April, is the sixth regular event on the European Tour to be postponed.

Meanwhile, in a drastic step, PGA EuroPro Tour, one of the third-tier circuits based in Great Britain and Ireland, has scrapped its entire 2020 schedule.

The 14 events postponed include proposed visits to Montrose Golf Links and Leven Links in June and September respectively.

Keith Pelley, the European Tour chief executive, said: “We are all taking a day-by-day approach at the moment."

Back at club level, Bruntsfield Links Golf Society has closed its clubhouse with immediate effect, with a similar shutdown now in place at another of Edinburgh's top clubs, Mortonhall.