[Brian_Ewen]

West Dunbartonshire Council are planning to close the only public golf course in the area. This would be detrimental to its residents as it offers a place where all residents no matter age, race, or gender can not only enjoy golf and the positive effects it can have for your physical well being, but is also a place that offers social gatherings to those who otherwise would not be able to do so.

Dalmuir Golf Course has been there for the residents of West Dunbartonshire for almost 100 years . bringing people from all over Scotland to play and taking this away would be a great loss to the community.

https://www.change.org/p/save-dalmuir-golf-course?recruiter=982079902

[David_Tepper]

Brian --

Has there been an comment from the Council about what they plan to do with the property?


DT

[Niall C]

David


I doubt they have much idea what they will do with it and I'm not sure it will be closed. What often seems to happen is that the department in charge send a report to Committee seeking authority to close the facility and that usually acts as a spur to Councillors to provide more money to keep the facility open.


That said, all Councils are reaching crisis point in terms of funding. Different Councils have different ways of dealing with the funding shortfall with a number of them seeking to lease out or sell sporting facilities to community groups to run them. When that doesn't work then a change of use is the last resort but in terms of golf courses and such like in urban areas the desire is to generally keep them as open spaces ie parks, allotments etc. That's popular with the anti-golf lobby.


Somewhere on this thread I spoke about my experiences with playing local munis during lock-down where I highlighted that part of the problem with Councils running at a deficit with golf courses being that they simply fail to collect the greenfees in a lot of instances. However it's not just municipals that are under threat. I was going to write an opinion piece for this site based on local golf courses. As part of that exercise I collated info on all courses within a 15 mile radius and counted 83 courses. That was about 5 years ago and I reckon the number is probably now nearer mid 70's with several of those having closed being private members clubs (3 closed pre COVID).


On the upside, 1 of those is slated to re-open as a 12 hole course.


Niall

[Marty Bonnar]

Back when I was a Parks Manager (think a slightly more benevolent Ron Swanson), part of my remit was managing the staff at a Council-owned Course which, in common with many in Scotland, had an attached private Club.
The Club eventually took over the Clubhouse and Course but with the greenstaff still being paid by the Council. That changed a year or two back when the greenstaff became employees of the Club. Imagine my horror/surprise when I recently saw a job advert for practically ALL of the staff. I don’t know what happened, but it can’t have been good.
F.

[Brian_Ewen]

Golfers in Clydebank have welcomed the news that the area’s only public golf course has been saved from closure.

Last week West Dunbartonshire Council (WDC) met to set its budget for 2024/25.

Councillors were presented with more than 50 money savings options to plug an £8.3 million budget black hole, one of which was to close or downsize Dalmuir Municipal Golf Course. This proposal was rejected.

https://www.heraldscotland.com/news/24182404.delight-scottish-public-golf-course-saved-closure/

[David_Tepper]

More bad news on coastal erosion:

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2024-03-22/scotland-s-famous-golf-courses-are-sinking-into-the-sea?utm_campaign=news&utm_medium=bd&utm_source=applenews


And not just in Scotland:


https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/c3gevv14nrwo

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