Member loses case against club over lockdown refund

A man who took the golf club he was a member of to court because it didn’t refund part of his subscriptions when he couldn’t play golf, due to Covid lockdowns, has lost his case.

The golfer was a member of a club that was forced to close down three times: from late March to mid May 2020, most of November 2020 and the first three months of 2021, due to the pandemic.

The club received a claim in breach of contract from the member for a refund of his subscriptions for the three periods.

According to the National Golf Clubs’ Advisory Association (NGCAA), which advised the club throughout the lockdowns and represented it in court, the financial value of the claim was fairly low but, had it been successful, it could have devastated the club if other members had then requested the same refund.

At the multi-day hearing, the claimant argued for a prorated refund of subscriptions under the membership contract, essentially saying that he had not been able to play golf on every day that he chose to do so and that the club, by following the national lockdown restrictions imposed by the government, had breached that membership contract.

The club, which was represented by the NGCAA’s barrister, said its constitution did not give any guarantee of golf for 365 days per annum and that, while the course was closed for play, the member still received some benefit from his membership as, for example, the clubhouse and course were maintained during that period.

The court agreed that the club constitution also vested power in the club’s committee to manage the club and course, including being able to restrict entry to the course and premises in any circumstances, provided that it did so lawfully and fairly.

The judge also agreed with the club on its contention that any member joining prior to the lockdowns would have a reasonable expectation that they may miss some days of golf each year as a result of bad weather, dangerous conditions and tournaments.

“Further, any member rejoining at the start of 2021 would be likely to have a reasonable expectation of further lockdowns, in addition to those which they might have had already, given the state of the pandemic at that point and the history of lockdowns and restrictions up until that point,” said Alistair Smith, CEO of the NGCAA.

“The judge dismissed the claim for a refund and we are happy to report on the successful outcome of this case for our member club. We are very pleased to have been able to assist this club and all of our member clubs during the pandemic, to provide reassurance and advice for them.

“We now have a first and valuable judicial interpretation of the proper response by clubs to the challenges presented by Covid.”

In 2020 a member of an unnamed club threatened legal action because he or she was not allowed to play golf during a lockdown.

A full report on the case can be found in the April issue of The Golf Business.