More golf clubs report growth for 2020

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir December 23, 2020 06:33

At least two more Scottish golf clubs have reported remarkable growth for 2020, driven by the pandemic.

According to The Herald, Glencruitten GC has seen 150 new members join up this year and The Braes, a facility that emerged from the old Polmont Golf Club, has seen its membership treble.

The paper has also spoken to the general manager of Brora Golf Club, Tony Gill, about the year he’s had, after 135 people joined it, saving it from closure.

“If I’m honest, I’m not a great worrier although our club president may have said something different at the start of lockdown,” he said.

Brora Golf Club

“I try to take the approach that if you are going to worry about something, then stop worrying and do something about it. We acted quickly back at the start of the pandemic and generated a substantial amount of cash in a short time. We are still getting people joining and we have a button on our website which allows people to make donations. We still get people giving 50 quid here and there.

“Throughout this period those of us at the club have been genuinely gobsmacked by the generosity shown to us. We got quite emotional to tell you the truth.

“For me to sit doing this job and to discover that there is that amount of warmth to the club I am managing is quite overwhelming.

“We are in a position where as long as we get the equivalent domestic business as we got for the three months of this summer we’ll be fine next year. “We could do a bit worse than that and still be ok. But we possibly couldn’t drag on for too much longer with more hard restrictions beyond 2021. We are all hoping for a return to something approaching what it used to be.”

Reflecting on the year, he said: “People couldn’t get enough of golf.

Brora Golf Club

“We don’t have a huge local membership and at a Saturday medal we’d usually get maybe 15 to 20 playing. Suddenly we had 30 or 40 and that kind of jump was happening at clubs everywhere.

“We have people who are now very committed to playing golf because they couldn’t do any other sports due to the restrictions. Hopefully that commitment continues.”

 

Alistair Dunsmuir
By Alistair Dunsmuir December 23, 2020 06:33
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2 Comments

  1. LL December 24, 18:57

    I just knew it, golf will never grow old. Here’s to 2021.

    Reply to this comment
  2. MichelleS December 23, 13:12

    Great news for a great game!

    Reply to this comment
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