Winterfield’s members to run municipal club

Members of a Scottish golf club have agreed to take over the running of the venue from its local council.

The members at Winterfield Golf Club are set to sign a 40-year lease to take over the course and its clubhouse, which are currently run by East Lothian Council via the Dunbar Common Good Fund and EnjoyLeisure.

The council expressed a desire to see the club take on responsibility for operations as part of its budget in February.

Councillors discussed the details of the lease behind closed doors at the end of a long public meeting on Tuesday.

East Lothian Council revealed the news on X

They heard that club members voted overwhelmingly to take on operations – currently provided by the council and its arms-length sports organisation Enjoy Leisure – at a special meeting, with 321 members backing it and only eight against.

Winterfield Golf Club was established in the 1930s after the town council bought the land to establish a municipal course. Its current layout was established at the end of World War Two, when it reopened.

Councillor Colin McGinn, the council’s cabinet spokesperson for sport, welcomed the move towards the club taking control.

He said: “The golf club members voted overwhelmingly in favour of the lease, and we have every confidence in their ability to ensure this wonderful course is an asset for the community for years to come.”