A Tayside golf club once described as ‘the Augusta of the north’ is looking to build its membership after securing a new lease of life.
Opened in 1987 by Sir Henry Cotton, Golf Monthly once bracketed Letham Grange in Angus alongside Augusta National which is the home of the US Masters.
Throughout the long-running legal wrangle over the ownership of the once thriving hotel at the centre of the estate, the Letham Grange Golf Club, which makes use of the disputed facilities, has battled on.
The golf club, which boasted 500 paying members last year, has operated on a licence from the current owners on a yearly basis since 2011.
But the committee has now agreed a three-year licence which represents a “big change” and has provided them with more security.
Club secretary Bruce Currie said the deal gives them more stability so they can do “some medium-term management planning”.
He said that with the rise in nomadic golfers choosing to pay and play for their golf, rather than joining a club, attracting visitors and potentially new members on a regular basis has never been so important.
“The course is looking as good as it ever has done,” he said.
“But some people still don’t know we are open – they know the hotel is closed and think the course is shut too.
“We want to spread the word that we are open are we’re trying to get to where we were last year when we had 500 members.”
Mr Currie said most clubs across Tayside are suffering from falling membership and are looking at new ways to make it more attractive.
He said: “One of the reasons is that it takes a lot of time to play a game of golf and a lot of people just don’t have four or five hours available.
“The big change that has happened globally is that there has been an enormous growth in what they call nomad golfers.
“Nomad golfers don’t want to be members and they go from club to club – they reckon in the next year that there will be more nomadic golfers in Scotland than club members.”
Mr Currie said maintenance has already taken place to safeguard the course from flooding with drainage work completed over the past few years.
The 18th century mansion house which forms the backdrop of the course has been at the centre of a title dispute which has gone through all levels of the Scottish courts system and to the House of Lords.
The hotel went into receivership in 2002 and closed in 2004 but administrators kept the two golf courses operational.
The Old Course was officially opened in 1987 by Sir Henry Cotton, which is a 6632 yard par 73, with a Championship layout.
The Glens Course opened in 1992 and is a challenging, 5528 yards, par 68 course.
In 1994 and 2000, Letham Grange hosted the Scottish Open Amateur Stroke Play Championship.
