Meet the professional: Martin Heggie

Frilford Heath Golf Club has appointed PGA professional and CCM Simon Fowler as its new head of operations, bringing more than 30 years’ experience in golf and hospitality to the Oxfordshire club.

Stoke Park in Buckinghamshire has opened The Penn, a 48-cover restaurant created by two-Michelin-starred chef Tom Sellers, the first of several new dining venues across the golfing estate.

Golf Ireland’s second National Club Survey, based on responses from 261 clubs, found that 72 percent increased their membership over the previous year, 63 percent grew women’s membership and 81 percent are financially stable or profitable.

Newquay Golf Club’s eighth hole usually plays 518 yards, but after Storm Austen it looks like a sandy beach and is playing as a 147-yard par-three.

Elmwood Golf Course in Fife, which was built to train greenkeepers, could close permanently on March 31 after its owner failed to find another operator and gave members until November 6 to express interest in taking over.

From 1 January, David Tuscarny, founder of ChippedIn, will attempt to play 1,000 different courses across mainland Great Britain in 1,000 days, aiming to raise £500,000 for Alzheimer’s Research UK and the Golf Foundation in memory of his mother.

Link Golf UK has appointed co-founder and PGA professional Andrew Terry as its first chief executive, as the mostly municipal club operator recently launched its new Link Club arm for private members’ clubs.

St Enodoc, Trevose and Perranporth have joined forces with The Headland Hotel and Spa in Newquay to launch the Cornwall Links Experience, a single booking for golf, itinerary and accommodation that aims to bring international golfers to Cornwall’s links courses.

The TGI Golf Foundation has raised more than £100,000 since launching in 2018, helping charities including Make-A-Wish UK and supporting TGI Golf partners and their families in difficult times. Its latest milestone follows a £12,000 donation to Make-A-Wish.

A Northumberland golf and holiday park will be cut from 18 holes to 12 after a developer won a planning appeal for up to 180 holiday lodges and a leisure hub, the latest of several clubs to downsize their courses.

Golfers at a resort in Portugal’s Algarve region can now order food and drinks via WhatsApp, with an AI concierge processing orders before drones deliver them directly to players on the course.

Royal County Down in Northern Ireland has submitted a planning application for major changes to its championship course, from the team behind Royal Portrush’s Open preparations, as talk grows of a future bid for the Open.

Apes Hill Barbados has named Killian Cullen, formerly of Portmarnock Golf Club in Dublin, as its new director of golf, to lead the Caribbean resort’s golf operation.