Club asks members for donations after running into difficulties
By Alistair Dunsmuir
A Scottish golf club has asked its members to make donations to it, after it ran into financial difficulties following a fall in membership.
According to the Evening Express, members at Oldmeldrum Golf Club in Aberdeenshire were told that it would need to raise extra money to get out of a financial hole.
Despite the problems, bosses at the club have stated it will not close, with one reported as saying: “Oldmeldrum Golf Club has been here for 135 years and it will be here for 135 years more.”
Ron Falconer, the captain at the golf club, said: “A meeting was held on Monday, where members were asked to make a donation, if they possibly could.”
Scottish golf clubs have lost about 100,000 members in the past 10 years, which in turn has led to a funding crisis for the governing body of the amateur game in Scotland, which earlier this year failed in its bid to increase the affiliation fee all members of Scottish golf clubs pay it.
This has led to fear that Scotland’s average annual subscription of £478 will rise by 34 per cent in five years’ time and be 84 per cent higher in a decade.
Mr Falconer added that Oldmeldrum has been hurt by members converting to pay-and-play visitors.
He said that the stability provided by a membership, which is paid in regularly to the club, is lacking if people pay each time they play instead.
“It’s not sustainable under our current model,” he said.
Mr Falconer also stated that bad weather last summer had contributed to a fall in membership, as well as other clubs in the area scrapping a joining fee.
He said: “It only takes one club to do away with its joining fee and you’ve either got to follow suit, or you start haemorrhaging people.”
Mr Falconer declined to say how much money the club would need but did add that a list of measures are being considered by the club council to “control and cut expenditure”.
He said: “We have come up with a list of measures, which will cut expenditure, as well as generate additional income.
“The problem with that is, these things are not instantaneous, it will take some time.”
By Alistair Dunsmuir
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Why not consider a new EZ-play option to generate revenue? Since golf is a game of opposites, consider shortening the course by introducing the “Hybrid golf ball” for play from forward tees. It’s the thrifty way to appeal to more golfers, by reducing the time & difficulty of the game.
“Oldmeldrum has been hurt by members converting to pay-and-play visitors” :
The point is : how to manage the changing way of playing golf and work for a new future ?