A spokesperson for Mount Ellen Golf Club, which was forced to close its doors at the weekend, has declared that they did everything they could to turn the fortunes of the Gartcosh facility around.
In the latest blow to Scotland’s club golf scene, Mount Ellen, which was formed back in 1904 and had a members list which included the late Scottish PGA secretary Peter Lloyd and the former PGA chief executive Sandy Jones (pictured below), succumbed to the financial pressures and current challenges that also led to the closure of Eastwood Golf Club near Newton Mearns recently.
While taking a swing at Scottish Golf and branding the governing body as useful as a “chocolate candle”, the Mount Ellen spokesman also detailed how the club had written to the First Minister, Nicola Sturgeon, outlining the dire straits into which many clubs have been plunged.
He said: "We've tried so many different things. Gartcosh is in the middle of an unbelievable amount of housing development. All the big housing companies are in the area and many of them have used the golf club as a selling point. Yet when we approached them for some support, some of them wouldn't even talk to us. That beggars belief, it really does.
READ MORE: Mount Ellen Golf Club forced to close its doors
"The members supported the golf club with cash donations, but it still doesn't work. The average age of this golf club was about 55 and they used the facilities. They were up here two or three times per week in large numbers. That's now been taken away from them, which is heartbreaking.
"We wrote to the First Minister pointing out the pressures that golf clubs and bowling clubs are under. They passed us on to sportscotland and I knew what they would say when I phoned, which was then passing us on to Scottish Golf. Scottish Golf was as much help as a chocolate candle. Scottish Golf is doing nothing for clubs like us. They offered us a grant for £600. You think, 'honest to God'.
"We've worked our socks off here for the last three of four years. We had a forward planning group and that brought in members and doubled the junior membership. It also brought in funding but, unfortunately, not enough to keep the club going. We've put out something like 3500 flyers into the new houses to encourage people to join the golf club. We've done everything we can, but we have no more options. It really is frustrating."
Jones, who served as the PGA’s chief executive for some 25 years, expressed his sadness at Mount Ellen’s demise.
Jones, who joined the club 62 years ago, said: “It is sadly the story of golf around the country and it's the same down south.
"The whole culture of playing golf has changed. They don't need membership now because you can look on your phone, see where a tee time is available and book it.
"Mount Ellen is always going to be special in my mind for what it was. It was very much a community golf course. It was the steel works that provided the golf course. I felt really sad when I heard this news.
"Back in my days there, the golf club was the centre of the community. When I played there as a kid, I remember playing with the headmaster of the local school and the policeman in the village. You knew everybody.
"The thing about the village of Gartcosh is that it's thriving again because of the new police headquarters, where a lot of people are now employed, while there's a lot of new housing.
"I thought that might have brought in new members to Mount Ellen, but that obviously hasn't happened. I don't how you avoid closures like this these days because it is a different animal and I think there will be more casualties, sadly.”
According to Scottish Golf, it was aware of the “issues faced by Mount Ellen” and met with the club in June to discuss the “variety of services and support” it could provide to help the club.
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