Big-spending golfers from Norway have said they will return to a collapsed Angus hotel resort if its famous fairways are saved.
Letham Grange has become popular with golfers from Stavanger in Norway, with a party of 20 visitors already forced to cancel their plans following the estate’s abrupt closure. The trip would have been worth £10,000 to the local economy.
More Norwegian golfers have been cancelling their plans to return to Angus after reading about the closure on The Courier’s website. However, a rescue bid to save the courses is under way following last month’s closure.
Following support from Angus Council, the Scottish Golf Union and others, it was agreed to take the business plan proposal to operate the golf courses to the golf club members for their support.
Orjan Heradstveit, from Stavanger, had planned a return visit to Letham Grange in September with a couple of friends. He was forced to cancel his plans and go elsewhere last month but he said he was excited to hear about the rescue bid and wants to come back soon.
He said, “The combination of golf courses outside the hotel’s doorstep is an important criteria for us when selecting new venues for our golf trips to Scotland.
“However, we love the two courses at Letham Grange and it wouldn’t surprise me if we go back there, whatever the future of the hotel will be. Still, it’d be a great bonus to all users of the resort if they found a solution for future service of both the hotel and the golf courses.”Promise of returnMr Heradstveit has been there twice, with his wife and with his golf mates. He said he would definitely go back to Letham Grange once it gets up and running again.
He said, “We’re very much supporting the local golfers who want to form a consortium to save the golf courses at Letham and we cross fingers for a successive plan.
Letham Grange was a Victorian mansion converted to a golf resort in the early 1990s. The 6632-yard Old Course designed by Donald Steel in 1987 and often called “Scotland’s Augusta” features water hazards on 13 of its 18 holes.
Taiwanese businessman Dong Guang (Peter) Liu has sought to take possession of the property, claiming it is his, and legal proceedings went through all levels of the Scottish courts system and to the House of Lords.
Letham Grange Management Company Ltd was appointed to run the hotel following the outcome of the original liquidators’ litigation with Mr Liu in February 2009, and invested £300,000 to modernise it after years of stagnation resulting from the legal tussle.
Creditors have approved the appointment of Melissa Jackson of The MacDonald Partnership plc (TMP) as liquidator over the management company. She said efforts were continuing to complete the financial picture of the failed resort, which had 20 staff at the time of closure.
She added, “Letham Grange is clearly an important local facility and its closure at this stage will have unavoidable consequences for the local communities.”