Alistair Dunsmuir
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An extraordinary month for English amateurs, a Borders club stripped of almost 100 years of trophies and a third drought in five years that has left clubs counting trees, badger damage and water bills. Here’s three stories concerning the UK golf industry we learnt during August.
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Members of two historic golf clubs have backed a full integration, bringing together almost 250 years of shared heritage and creating a clearer pathway for junior and women’s golf at one of Scotland’s finest links.
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An enlarged flood storage pool and newly constructed bund at Horsehay Golf Club will hold back water during heavy rainfall to protect nearby homes, following a partnership between Telford & Wrekin Council, the Environment Agency and the club.
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Allan Harrison was four over and eating a pasty at the halfway house. What happened next – seven consecutive birdies and eight in nine holes – is a run the numbers say should happen once in 455,000 rounds.
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Stourbridge GC’s chairman Simon Markey says the club has been overwhelmed with support after a fire tore through more than 500 acres – but restoring the course could cost over £1m and claim up to 1,000 trees.
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Thieves took every piece of silverware from Minto Golf Club on Saturday night, including trophies dating back almost a century. Police Scotland is appealing for information, and the club has urged other sporting clubs across the Borders to review their security.
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Two Surrey golf clubs face closure under separate housing schemes that would between them put around 1,500 homes on land currently occupied by 36 holes.
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Golf club operator Link Golf UK has appointed Andy King as its strategic advisor to support its next phase of growth.
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Golf clubs across southern and eastern England could face the first restrictions on business water use in two decades, after two water companies moved towards non-essential use bans, as the 2026 drought deepens.
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The new clubhouse at Royal Dornoch has been operating at unprecedented levels since opening in December, with bar sales quadrupling in May and the kitchen serving twice as many plates as during the same month last year.
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Willingdon Golf Club in Eastbourne has raised more than £30,000 towards a borehole that will cut its reliance on mains water, after members hit a £15,000 Crowdfunder target in little over a fortnight and unlocked a matching £15,000 National Lottery grant from Sport England.
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Matt Vigurs has achieved what England Golf is saying may be the longest hole-in-one in English history – a 411-yard hole-in-one at Great Barr Golf Club in the West Midlands this weekend, which, unsurprisingly, was also an albatross.
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Members of the 135-year-old West Middlesex Golf Club have launched a petition, now past 4,800 signatures, after Ealing Council approved a settlement stripping the club of its 75-year lease and replacing it with a deal that expires next year – a move the club says would force it into insolvency and cost 27 jobs.
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Rounds of golf played in Great Britain in the first half of 2026 were up on every year this decade except record-breaking 2025, according to new data, which shows that appetite for the game remains strong.
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After three years of in-house operation, The R&A has appointed Northwind Leisure Golf as operating partner for its Golf It! community facility in Glasgow.
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Tewkesbury Park has appointed former footballer Emma ‘Lev’ Levett as its first Golf Commercial Manager, tasked with a new three-year plan for golf as the resort shifts towards a whole-resort subscription model.
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A new study shows the same golf club can be recommended by one AI assistant and invisible on another, a Greater Manchester club’s ordeal with an illegal encampment makes the case for a simple physical deterrent, and a Cornish centenarian’s weekly round is a reminder of what the game does for a long life. Here’s…
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Scottish Golf and the Camanachd Association have secured Scottish Government funding to offer free golf and shinty sessions to young people in rural Scotland this summer, tapping into the two sports’ shared Highland heritage and similar skills.
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New England Golf figures show 12.6 million adults played some form of golf in the last year, with junior membership up 34% in 2025, as the sport launches Get into Golf Week to build on the momentum.
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Golf group Mytime Active says participation at its golf courses has never been stronger, with almost 700,000 rounds played across its sites between March 2025 and March 2026.
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Derek Kingsbury, St Enodoc Golf Club’s longstanding member, marked his 100th birthday with a golf day on the Holywell Course, joined by 70 players, six-year-old member Louis Westlake, and a 100-guest clubhouse party with dancing to The Gershwin Gang.
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HowDidiDo and intelligentgolf have partnered with Pin Vision to combine scoring and competition management with live GPS, course mapping and pace-of-play tools, giving golfers and clubs a single, joined-up digital platform.
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Forest Hill Golf Club, a 140-acre course in Leicestershire’s National Forest, has entered administration. FRP Advisory will bring the 600-member club to market for sale, while it remains fully operational and open to new members in the meantime.
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Hart Common Golf Club will install a height barrier after roughly a dozen caravans occupied the course for two days, damaging greens and forcing closure.
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A former world champion boxer has called on a Nottinghamshire council to not close down a 120-year-old golf club in order to build hundreds of new homes.
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Toptracer will trace every shot of The 154th Open’s global broadcast, offer fans live QR-code shot data on-site and power 20+ simulators across Royal Birkdale – including a new Global Challenge giving fans worldwide the chance to win tickets to The 155th Open at St Andrews.
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Here’s three stories concerning the UK and global golf industries we learnt during what was, for many, a sweltering last month.


























