More clubs will close, warns industry leader

More golf clubs, particularly in Scotland, could close down after three fell in the same week last month, an industry leader has warned.

Last month, three golf clubs, Hirsel, Caddington and Torrance Park, two of which are in Scotland, all announced their closure within six days of each other, while another Scottish club said during that week that it is drawing up emergency plans in order to not go the same way.

This came just a few weeks after we reported that 433 UK golf clubs faced the threat of closure due to rising costs.

Chris Spencer, from the Scottish Golf & Club Managers Association, has told The Times that Scottish golf clubs will shut if they cannot gain members or put up fees.

“The boom in membership during lockdown has now subsided as economic pressures take their toll,” he said. “With the rising energy prices, minimum wages going up and other costs such as insurance rising, it would not surprise me if other clubs are debating whether they can continue.

“Golf in Scotland has always been for everybody and therefore [membership] has been at quite a competitive rate. But the Hirsel closure isn’t the first. Unfortunately there could be others unless either more people join or members potentially have to pay a lot more to sustain their golf club.”

This comes as Kirkcaldy Golf Club, which has a course designed by Old Tom Morris, has said it is drawing up emergency plans to survive.

Its captain, Brian Laing, told Fife News: “Like many clubs across the country, [we are] having to deal with significant rises in our costs.

“We are working with our membership to agree and implement changes in our operating model which will help us adapt and navigate through this period of significant rises. We are working with the sole focus of moving the club forward and preserving a part of the Old Tom Morris heritage.”