Golf club ordered to close its 18th green

A golf club in North Wales has received a council notice ordering it to close its 18th hole and launched a GoFundMe in order to construct a new one.

The letter was not expected by Holyhead Golf Club and it was sent after a neighbour complained that too many stray balls were going onto their land.

The club, which opened in 1912, has now launched an £75,000 appeal to build a new green further away from the neighbour’s land. Bosses at the club said they couldn’t face becoming a 17-hole course. 

Isle of Anglesey County Council said it is acting to ensure the health and safety of both golfers and people affected by the golf club.

A Holyhead Golf Club spokesman said: “A neighbour said golf balls were leaving the boundary of the course and going onto their property. He has evidence balls were going into his garden and he raised the issue with the council.”

The spokesman added: “We are very disappointed. I don’t know of any golf club in the country who can just find £80,000 out of thin air. But we can’t bury our heads in the sand and just hope everything will be OK.

“We have got no defence against it (the notice). We have to comply.”

However the spokesman said its finances are already tight. “It’s quite a struggle already. We are trying to bring joy and happiness to the community (through golf).

“They couldn’t go permanently down to a 17-hole course as it would deter visiting players, and competitions over 18 holes would become void,” he added.

So the club has launched a GoFundMe appeal which would mark a “drastic” change to the course.

The appeal states: “We are raising £75,000 to construct a new golf green as a result of a county council improvement notice.

“Unfortunately, we at the Holyhead Golf Club have been instructed by the local authority to close our 18th green that has been in situ for 113 years.

“Having issued us with an improvement notice this has resulted with the club having to develop a new 8th and 18th green and closing the existing 18th green. Due to this closure, we are now only operating as a 17th hole golf course.”

Holyhead Golf Club hopes to reopen, after landscaping work is completed, as an 18-hole course again by May 1, 2025.

An Isle of Anglesey County Council spokesperson said: “The county council’s public protection team has served an improvement notice to Holyhead Golf Club under the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974. The council has a statutory duty to ensure the health and safety of golf course users as well as members of the public that may be affected by the golf course.

“Our environmental health officers continue to work closely with the Golf Club in relation to this matter.”