Some UK Golf Clubs Facing Major Uncertainty
By: Derek Clements | Thu 20 Mar 2025
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If you ever doubted that golf clubs around the UK were facing challenges then a recent series of developments will have you thinking again.
Dalmuir Golf Club is due to close after the local council withdrew funding while Hollandbush Golf Club has been saved. It has also emerged that Carnoustie is going into private ownership after another cash-strapped council decided it could no longer afford to fund it.
South Lanarkshire Council has given Hollandbush approval for an asset transfer for the golf course which effectively means that it can stay open - for now at least.
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Mags Cathcart, the club manager, reported in a video on social media: "Here we go. The hard work starts now on a transition period and we hope the community continues to back what we are doing. Thanks again for all your help."
It also faced closure in 2024 but was given a stay of execution. During that time it has been maintained by the council and run by South Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture but the club has been working on a new model for running the club and course.
However, Dalmuir in Clydebank is being closed down by West Dunbartonshire Council.
A campaign launched by local golfer Gerry Smith attracted more than 2,500 signatures but, sadly, failed to save the club.
The council, which was accused of failing to maintain the course properly, considered increasing membership costs and looked at reducing the course from 18 to 12 holes but ultimately decided that it had to go.
It means that the 180 members who paid up to £300 a year to play at the course will now have to find somewhere else to play - the council, which has been forced to slash its budget, claimed it was subsidising the course to the tune of £805 per member.
And according to a report in The Scotsman newspaper, control of Carnoustie Golf Links, one of the most famous golf venues on the planet, has been handed over to a consortium of financiers. And once again it is all because a local council can no longer afford to run it.
Apparently a deal has been agreed between Angus Council and a private company, Carnoustie Golf Heritage and Hospitality Group Limited (CGHH). It assures its short-term future but CGHH are looking for a long-term agreement aimed at running the venue until at least the end of the century.
The big hope is that the deal will see The Open Championship returning to Carnoustie as CGHH pump money in. They have already stated that they want to create a world-class tourist destination.
Carnoustie has been in public ownership since the 19th century.
Unsurprisingly, there are concerns about Carnoustie being delivered to a private ownership.
Under the terms of the seven-figure deal, Carnoustie Golf Links Management Committee (CGLMC), a charitable company that has managed the courses for years, has sold its intellectual property rights, including the ‘Carnoustie Golf Links’ trademark, to CGHH, with all its assets and staff transferring to the private firm.
The current deal runs until 2033 but the investors want a long-term lease to run until 2123.
And then there is Holyhead Golf Club in North Wales, which is facing a rather unique conundrum. The local council has told the club that it must close its 18th hole. It comes after a neighbour complained that stray golf balls were being sprayed onto their land.
The club, which opened in 1912, has now launched a £75,000 GoFundMe appeal to build a new green further away from the neighbour’s land. 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 that balls were going into his garden and he raised the issue with the council."
A club spokesman said: "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 the notice. We have to comply."
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