By Martin Dempster - The Scotsman
An Edinburgh
golf club has launched an emergency fund-raising campaign after facing a
shortfall with a £34,000 bill to completely replace the roof of its
clubhouse.
Members of Lochend Golf Club have dipped into their pockets to help pay for the remedial work by agreeing to a levy of £100, raising £19,000.
But, with the cost of the project set to be £34,400, the club is having
to look at other ways of trying to come up with the shortfall.
Club captain Stuart Mathie said: “Approaches have been made to Tennent's
out main supplier, who are looking at how best they can help us.
“We
have also reached out to people through our Just Giving page and have
planned a number of events which, along with raffles, club nights etc
will continue to raise money.
“Other
golf clubs around the area have been generous in giving fourball
vouchers which are always in great demand and this is greatly
appreciated. These will either be auctioned or used as raffle prizes.”
At a worrying time for lots of Scottish golf clubs, The Hirsel in Coldstream closed overnight a fortnight ago while Torrance Park in Motherwell is shutting next week.
you can imagine, we look at the sky and wish for dry weather as the
downpours of last winter and this spring have not been kind to our
predicament,” added Mathie.
As
well as being a club in its own right, Lochend was once an important
‘feeder club’ for clubs like Duddingston and Prestonfield.
“At
that time, all the big clubs had waiting lists and also required their
prospective new members to have a good idea of etiquette and have at
least a minimum skill level before they would be allowed to join,” said
long-standing Lochend member Duncan Ireland.
“Clubs
like Lochend, Portobello etc fulfilled that need and, as such, there
are many people who will have memories of Lochend and, hopefully, they
can be encouraged to help us at the moment.”
To support Lochend Golf Club, click here https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/LochendGolfClub
