The municipal Uxbridge Golf Course in Middlesex is to close ‘temporarily’, and staff will move to a nearby venue, following a decline in player numbers.
However, the facility they are moving to is also at risk of closure.
A spokesman for Hillingdon Council said the 12-hole Uxbridge Golf Course will close on January 14 while a specialist operator is sought to take on the management of the course.
An operator is also being sought to run the nearby 18-hole Haste Hill, which is where the staff will move to, but that also has experienced decreasing participation in the last year.
Despite recently increasing fees, considerable council investment and an annual taxpayer subsidy, both courses have continued operating at a significant loss.
Advisers have now been appointed to source a new operator following an initial search last year by the council.
Councillor Eddie Lavery, cabinet member for community and environment, said: “We’re very proud to be in the unique position of owning several golf courses as part of Hillingdon’s great leisure offer for residents. However, with increasing pressures on council finances, the staffing, maintaining and running of these courses is a significant taxpayer subsidy for a service used by relatively few. It is an unsustainable position.
“We are actively seeking a specialist golf operator that will have the expertise we do not have to provide a more tailored offer that works for everyone.”
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