Two Scottish clubs hold EGMs over their futures

Two historic and prestigious golf clubs in Scotland have agreed to significant financial changes in order to safeguard their futures.

This comes after an industry leader said several golf clubs, particularly in Scotland, could go under, following the closure of two Scottish golf clubs in September.

The world’s 13th oldest club, Scotscraig Golf Club in Fife, has held an EGM after nearly £200,000 was lost in the last financial year. According to The Courier, ‘the current business model at Scotscraig is not equipped to deliver a sustainable future to cover current costs and provide funds on the scale needed to address decades of underinvestment in the course, clubhouse and general facilities’.

At the meeting at the 207-year-old club, members unanimously supported a proposal to open talks with prospective funding partners.

A club spokesman explained what was decided at the EGM to The Scotsman: “The membership has unanimously supported the board’s motion to progress negotiations with prospective funding partners to work towards securing a sustainable and exciting future for this historic club.

“One thing is that the club has seen the difficulties that are coming and have been forward-thinking enough to take the appropriate action to work towards securing the future of the golf club.

“We already have a number of interested parties and the board has identified their preferred funding partner.

Scotscraig Golf Club

“It’s been a long road to get to this point because for all the information that has been presented to them (the members) over the last couple of years, they were obviously listening but didn’t let on.

“However, when push comes to shove, they have been right behind the board and their golf club to ensure its future.”

Meanwhile, members of Musselburgh Golf Club, established in 1938, have unanimously approved the introduction of an immediate £100 levy to help the Open qualifying venue with “cashflow” issues.

“It is great news that all our members have agreed to chip in £100 because all we have at the moment is a short-term cashflow issue and that is down mainly to carrying out works to the clubhouse building,” club captain John McCusker told The Scotsman.

“The building is owned by East Lothian Council, but we have a full repairing lease and we have had to re-wire it and then do a subsequent re-decoration, which hadn’t been budgeted for.

“Apart from the short-term cashflow issue, the club is not in trouble. We have a good finance committee, which is working on a budget for next year.

“The club has never been in debt, nor will it be. We haven’t operated with an overdraft or anything like that, so it is all positive.

“The numbers are encouraging and we’ve probably got room for 20 to 30 [more] full members. It’s about looking forward. The future is bright for Musselburgh Golf Club and I personally hope we are all still playing golf here on a cracking course in 20 years’ time.”