Members were only given six weeks’ notice that half of their golf course will be taken out for good…
A popular 18-hole golf course is about to be reduced to nine holes to make way for a professional soccer team’s training ground.
Members of the South Buckinghamshire Golf Club in southern England have been left shocked and incensed after learning their beloved track is about to be sliced in half with just six weeks’ notice.
That’s after Wycombe Wanderers, a League One team, signed a long-term lease to develop the course and the adjacent Farnham Park Playing Fields into a new training facility and ‘flagship sporting hub’.
The club are scheduled to remove nine holes from April 1, with a new proposed nine-hole layout set to have a different configuration. The upshot, the golf club’s chairman Michael Murphy says, is that the layout will lose its recognised course rating and therefore competitive rounds will no longer be valid.
“Our members have been given just six weeks’ notice that half of the golf course will be taken out of play and long-standing Golf Club arrangements are to be withdrawn,” said Murphy.
“This fundamentally disrupts golf organised there. If the proposed 9-hole configuration does not have an official course rating, it means competitive and handicap golf — the core of club sport — would not be possible.
“Last year we were assured that the site would remain ‘open as usual’ during the design and planning process. Reducing the course from 18 holes to 9 holes and removing relevant framework for golfers cannot reasonably be described as operating as usual.”
Wycombe bosses argue that the move is being made to modernise the site and that the 18-hole layout is not longer financially viable with declining use.
“A key part of the long-term vision is to bring financial stability and sustainability to the site, and to do this the Club is proposing some changes to the golf course and overall operating model,” a statement read.
“We believe these changes will help secure the club’s long-term future by widening access to golf and supporting participation across all ages and abilities, alongside upgraded facilities for wider sport and recreation.”
But the frustration among those golfers who cherish their course is palpable. Members who have spent years enjoying the game at South Buckinghamshire are feeling short changed.
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“South Bucks Golf Course is the only council-run 18-hole golf course in Buckinghamshire and one of the more affordable and publicly accessible facilities in the area,” member Laura Yiannouzis told the Bucks Free Press.
“The reduction to nine holes materially alters competitive provision, affects women’s participation and junior development, and is proceeding ahead of the submission of a full planning application for the wider redevelopment.
“This is not a “football versus golf” issue. It is about balance, transparency and ensuring that significant changes to public recreational land are properly consulted on before becoming irreversible.”