Members need 'favourable' factors in fight to save Letham Grange courses

MEMBERS of Letham Grange, which sits a few miles inland from Arbroath, are facing a race against time in a bid to take over the running of the two courses at the Angus venue after it became the second Scottish golf resort to shut down in the space of a few weeks.

Hot on the heels of the Machrie Hotel and Golf Links on Islay going into liquidation, the doors have also been closed at Letham Grange due to an ongoing legal dispute over ownership that has resulted in the resort's management being unable to secure investment to keep trading.

The two courses, one of which was designed by leading golf course architect Donald Steel and opened by Sir Henry Cotton, the three-times Open champion, shortly before he died in 1987, have lain dormant for nearly a fortnight and now the club's 450 members are actively trying to come up with a proposal to rescue them.

"They (the resort management) have already invested a lot of money and are aware it will take another substantial investment if the courses are left to rack and ruin and then have to be brought back up to the current standard," the club secretary, Gardiner Arthur, told The Scotsman.

"We have held a couple of meetings to see if it is possible if we can operate the courses on behalf of the members, hopefully for potential visitors as well, as we have two magnificent courses here. We are polling members for ideas. To make a full commitment in terms of fees (for a year) is possibly a hard thing to do. It could be we try and support things on a monthly basis at first. But it will depend on favourable things going our way."

The golf club itself is celebrating its 25th anniversary this year and the venue has earned its fair share of admirers during that time.

Leading golf course photographer Brian Morgan, for instance, once remarked: "There are several holes at Letham Grange which would not be out of place at Augusta National."

The two courses have staged a number of leading amateur and professional events, including the Scottish Stroke Play Championship in 2000, when West Linton's Simon Mackenzie beat a strong field to claim the title.

However, it has rarely been plain sailing from a business point of view and now a long-running and complex legal tussle over ownership between Dong Guang Lie, a Taiwanese businessman, and the directors of Letham Grange Management Company Ltd has put the future of the resort under threat.

Confirmation of its closure was posted on the front door of the hotel by Letham Grange directors Neil Rimmer and Paul Rodgers, who are hopeful the legal issues can be resolved but, in the meantime, members are busy behind the scenes trying to come up with a proposal that can at least see the courses re-opened.

"The club captain has had some positive conversations with the resort management. We are hoping we can run the courses at the moment. That would be a win-win situation for the directors as it would allow them to concentrate on legal matters," added Arthur.

"We are looking for support in principal from our members and have had a good response to what we have been putting up on the club's new website. We have a lot of qualified and enthusiastic people among our membership waiting to help us and we will be calling on them."

While the fact members have not yet paid any fees for this year is being hailed as a "positive in all this", it is known that some of them are already getting in touch with other clubs in Angus to enquire about joining, which makes the need for a speedy outcome to the situation at Letham Grange all the more important.

"We are very proud of what we have here. It is a privilege to play our golf at Letham Grange and I think that is was is helping us do this. It would be a huge disappointment if we lost this facility. Only last year one of our members got a junior section off the ground and we had 30-40 children coming along for coaching. To think that might now be curtailed is sad," said Arthur.

A group of Norwegian golfers have already had to seek alternative arrangements after their hopes of playing at Letham Grange at the end of April were tossed up in the air and Angus golf officials are keeping a close eye on the situation.

"This is all a great pity because, while it has had a chequered past, the greenkeeping staff did a wonderful job on a shoestring budget and it just goes to show what kind of complex it could be with some significant investment," said Bill Miller, secretary of the Angus Golf Association. "I sincerely hope it does rise from the ashes, so to speak, but if they let the courses go, they might never get them back."

His predecessor, David Speed, worked at Letham Grange at one time."I'm not surprised but it is disappointing. It is a superb facility and a wonderful place for Angus to have. The hotel has had its problems, unfortunately, but I'm sure something will happen to get it up and running again," he commented.