Trump’s course is the exception

IN the face of the global recession, Donald Trump’s new course near Aberdeen is set to open in late June. Setting aside issues of planning permission, wind turbines, how it will affect the local economy and the impact on the Aberdeeen public for a moment, having seen recent pictures it is clear that this will be a special new links.

Just a decade or so ago, the opening of courses of such stature was not exactly commonplace but you could confidently predict that it would only be the newest kid on the block for a matter of months. In the case of Trump International Golf Links – I think we can all agree that modesty is not the owner’s strong point – you wonder how many years will pass before a project of similar magnitude is conceived let alone opens its doors.

Almost everywhere else in the British Isles, clubs are losing members. According to a recent KPMG survey, there are now almost 43,000 fewer members than a year ago. That is a three per cent fall, and leaves around 1.3m of us. It doesn’t necessarily mean there are fewer people playing the game, but it does show that it is becoming harder for many to justify paying annual subscriptions.

It seems to me that there are simply too many courses for the number of committed golfers so, sad to report, I suspect we will be hearing more cases like that of the Norfolk Golf and Country Club which closed last Christmas and is now being restored to farmland.
According to a recent KPMG survey, there are now almost 43,000 fewer club members in Britain than a year ago. Almost everywhere else in the British Isles, clubs are losing members. According to a recent KPMG survey, there are now almost 43,000 fewer members than a year ago. That is a three per cent fall, and leaves around 1.3m of us. It doesn’t necessarily mean there are fewer people playing the game, but it does show that it is becoming harder for many to justify paying annual subscriptions.
It seems to me that there are simply too many courses for the number of committed golfers so, sad to report, I suspect we will be hearing more cases like that of the Norfolk Golf and Country Club which closed last Christmas and is now being restored to farmland.