Now, however, the bitter battle over the future of the Glen Golf Club in North Berwick has escalated with a protest song, a vote of no confidence in its management committee and growing disharmony among members.
The club is at the centre of a controversial move by American-backed investment company, The Ancient Links Golf Company (TALGC), which wants to add it to the list of Scottish golf clubs which it has taken over running in recent months.
So far, it has signed deals to take on Old Tom Morris-designed courses at Scotscraig in Tayport, founded 1817 by the founders of The Royal & Ancient Golf Club, and Forfar Golf Club in Angus, set on land that was ploughed by monks as far back as the 12th century.
Spectacular views from the Glen Golf Club in North Berwick take in the Bass Rock (Image: Jonny Williams)
In Montrose, it has mounted a 99-year bid to run Montrose Golf Links. The move that has raised an uncomfortable dilemma for the Angus town’s common good golf operations and is currently the subject of a public consultation due to end early next month.
Other clubs, from Longniddry Golf Club in East Lothian to Southerness Golf Club on the edge of the Solway coast in Dumfriesshire, have also been approached by the business.
In return for signing with TALGC, golf clubs are being offered multi-million pounds investments spanning improvements to clubhouses and grounds.
But while TALGC have been welcomed by some, its arrival at North Berwick’s Glen Golf Club is said to have created deep fractions between members.
That reached a climax on Monday night, when a Special General Meeting was held and a motion of no confidence in the club’s management committee was put to members.
Although the move was defeated by 299 votes to 130 – paving the way for the talks with TALGC to continue and a further ballot – the Save The Glen campaigners say they plan to battle on.
Now to add to the mix, two members of the historic club have loaned their voices to the debate, to write and record a song inspired by their love of the club and highlighting what could be lost in the future.
Titled ‘The Keepers of The Glen’, its rally cry includes the lines: “You can’t buy the wind, you can’t buy the sea, you can’t buy 100 years of what this place means.
“You can build a better clubhouse and change the way things look but you can’t buy the history of every name in every book.”
The song is said to reflect “heritage, belonging and responsibility” in lyrics that tell “the story of a place that has been shaped not only by golf, but by the generations of people who have played, worked, walked and gathered there”.
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Musician Jonny Williams, who performs on the recording with fellow club member, Ian Anderson, said: “We wanted to write a song that wasn’t about taking sides. It was about taking a step back and remembering what The Glen actually is and what it means to the people who have been part of it.
“Every generation has inherited something from the one before it. The question is what we leave behind for the generation that follows us.
“That’s really what the song is about.”
The Glen Golf Club in East Lothian is being targeted for a proposed partnership with The Ancient Links Golf Company (TALGC). (Image: Jonny Williams)
The future of the Glen is the focus of intense debate following the approach from The Ancient Links Golf Company which has proposed a long-term partnership which includes investment estimated to be in the region of £8-10 million.
Opponents say the club is financially sound with a full membership, a waiting list for new members and healthy visitor income.
They also point to recent reinvestment in the course and clubhouse, arguing the club does not need new investment from an outside organisation.
Instead, they have highlighted concerns that the partnership could lead to future changes to membership fees, higher clubhouse costs, increased fees for visitors and local members’ tee times squeezed to accommodate golf tourists from abroad.
There have also been concerns expressed around its multi-millionaire backer, Douglas Cifu.
Campaigners at the Glen say they were shocked when TALGC representatives confirmed that the American businessman, a minority owner of Florida Panthers, had been suspended by the NHL last year after comments he made on social platform X concerning issues in Palestine and Israel.
Just hours before the Glen vote, The Herald revealed one of TALGC’s directors, former Carnoustie CEO Michael Wells, had stepped down.
The clubhouse at the Glen Golf Course, where a vote of no confidence in the management committee was held this week (Image: Jonny Williams)
Former club captain Alan Nisbet, of the Save the Glen campaign group, said: “We are still up for the fight and trying to carry the message to club members that we are not against the management committee, but we are against TALGC.
“Although the no confidence vote failed, there are still around 200 members out there who did not take part who are either undecided, or haven’t been to meetings on this.
“A lot of people still have to hear the opposite view to this.
“Whenever I go somewhere to play and say I’m a member at the Glen, this is all people want to know about, everyone’s watching it.
He added: “There is a lot of angst around this and fractured relationships.”
Golf has been played on North Berwick’s East Links since the 17th century. The Glen course was laid out in the early 1900s by two of golf’s most celebrated architects, James Braid and Ben Sayers, and offers players spectacular views of the Bass Rock and towards the East Neuk of Fife.
Songwriter Mr Williams said the song is intended as a “love letter” to the Glen.
Musician Jonny Williams who has written a protest song about takeover moves at his golf club (Image: Jonny Williams)
“At its heart is a simple idea: We don’t own The Glen. We are its keepers.
“The song deliberately avoids drawing any conclusions or attempting to influence outcomes. Instead, it asks a more fundamental question: ‘What kind of future do we want for the place we have inherited?’
“The Glen is already an internationally recognised golfing destination, attracting thousands of visitors each year.
“The concern expressed through the song is that the very heritage which makes The Glen valuable should not ultimately become separated from the people and community who have protected it.”
A further meeting at the Glen on 30 September will ask members to vote on whether to continue talks with TALGC and proceed with due diligence measures which opponents say will cost in the region of £80,000 to £100,000 to carry out.
No one from TALGC has replied to Herald requests for comment, while the Glen secretary is said to be away.
TALGC was incorporated last summer. According to its website it “brings together irreplaceable historic community golf clubs.
“We provide the investment, expertise and continuity needed to support their long-term future, while protecting the identity, traditions and member experience that make each Club distinctive.
“As part of the Ancient Links collection, every Club remains proudly itself, while benefiting from shared expertise, specialist support and access to leading industry partners.”