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.
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
