{"id":702050,"date":"2026-07-20T19:15:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:15:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/702050\/"},"modified":"2026-07-20T19:15:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-20T19:15:09","slug":"the-glen-golf-club-members-set-to-vote-on-historic-deal","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/702050\/","title":{"rendered":"The Glen Golf Club members set to vote on historic deal"},"content":{"rendered":"

\n Members at The Glen Golf Club<\/a>, North Berwick, are set to be asked to vote on whether to enter into a long-term strategic partnership which “would bring significant investment to the club”, estimated in the region of \u00a38-10 million.\n<\/p>\n

\n Under the proposal, TALGC<\/a> – founded by the team which oversaw large-scale investment at Carnoustie Links Golf Club – would assume responsibility for the day\u2011to\u2011day running of The Glen and aim to secure a 125-year course lease from East Lothian Council<\/a>.\n<\/p>\n

\n The new company would then sub-lease the course from The Glen Golf Club, which “would continue to exist”.\n<\/p>\n

\n “This proposal offers a significant opportunity for the future of our golf club,” said a lengthy and enthusiastic email to members, from the club’s management committee.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It would secure the future of our club at a level that many members may never have thought possible, but it also means that day-to-day operations of the club would be undertaken by a third party.”\n<\/p>\n

\n The Glen would remain principal leaseholder of the East Links<\/a> course, clubhouse and car park while TALGC would cover costs, including maintenance, and pay an annual income to The Glen Golf Club.\n<\/p>\n

\n \"GoogleTALGC propose a multi-million pound investment that would renovate both the course and club facilities including the shop and clubhouse (Image: Google Maps)\n<\/p>\n

\n “TALGC would assume operational responsibility, including all associated revenue, costs and future operational risks,” outlined The Glen’s management committee.\n<\/p>\n

\n “It would maintain the course, facilities, and service standards at a championship level to support the long-term delivery of its business model.”\n<\/p>\n

\n The company, which was set up in 2025<\/a> with the aim of working with historic Scottish links courses to help protect and enhance clubs for future generations, says the investment would create a “championship standard” venue.\n<\/p>\n

\n TALGC has already partnered with Scotscraig Golfing Club in Tayport and Forfar Golf Club in Angus and is said to be in the process of partnering with Montrose Links.\n<\/p>\n

\n Plans for The Glen, which was founded in 1906, include an overhaul of the greenkeeping compound, the purchase of new equipment to support future maintenance, extensive bunker reconstruction and the creation of new practice facilities.\n<\/p>\n

\n The proposed partnership would also fund a new irrigation system and secure a water supply, upgraded paths, replacement course furniture and signage, a clubhouse makeover, a self-service halfway house, improved toilets and expanded parking.\n<\/p>\n

\n The proposal also promises a staffing structure designed to support \u201cthe next generation of golfers\u201d and commits that all club staff would be retained and ‘TUPE transferred” to TALGC.\n<\/p>\n

\n In the members’ email, The Glen’s management committee said that while the club was in a stable financial position – with a full membership and current two-year waiting list showing “growing visitor demand” – there had been “limited revenue growth” in the last three years.\n<\/p>\n

\n And several large-scale projects required attention and necessary investment, such as a \u00a32-5m clubhouse redevelopment and new irrigation systems which could cost up to \u00a31.5m.\n<\/p>\n

\n The management committee states that meeting these costs independently would require reinvesting surpluses, taking on bank borrowing and raising member levies, leaving the club vulnerable if visitor income fell or operating costs continued to rise.\n<\/p>\n

\n They note that utility bills have also recently increased by 42 per cent annually.\n<\/p>\n

\n Should any partnership go ahead, existing members would become “founder members\u201d, with several “unique protections that are not offered to new members”.\n<\/p>\n

\n Their playing rights are set out in a Golf Access Rights Agreement that cannot be altered without member consent.\n<\/p>\n

\n Full ordinary members would see membership fee price hikes capped at \u00a340 per year for the first five years, taking annual fees to \u00a3840 in 2027 (5 per cent increase), rising to \u00a31,000 by 2031, alongside a \u00a350 bar levy each year.\n<\/p>\n

\n After the initial five-year period, fees would rise year-on-year in line with the Consumer Price Index, which has averaged 3.3 per cent annually over the past decade.\n<\/p>\n

\n Protected member tee times would be expanded on weekdays and weekends, with members having access to book tee times eight days in advance, compared to the current seven.\n<\/p>\n

\n Guest member fees would be \u00a320 in 2027, rising to \u00a330 by 2030 before being set at 20 per cent of the green fee from 2031.\n<\/p>\n

\n Junior membership and social membership would be free, with additional staffing and resources for the junior section and a commitment that juniors who progress through the club would receive founder member status at age 18.\n<\/p>\n

\n The club currently welcomes about 7,000 visitors annually and projects that that figure will need to rise to around 10,000 to meet future income requirements, with TALGC’s “significant” marketing budget “meaning awareness of the club is likely to grow”.\n<\/p>\n

\n TALGC intends to increase revenue through a combination of higher average green fees and what it describes as sustainable management of visitor numbers, and has agreed in a separate written commitment that visitors will be excluded from play between November 1 and March 1 each year to protect the course and maximise member access.\n<\/p>\n

\n A series of legal agreements, drawn up with advice from law firm Pinsent Masons, would monitor TALGC\u2019s performance, and if it failed to meet its obligations or the business ceased trading, the partnership would end and all improvements and assets would revert to The Glen.\n<\/p>\n

\n “The proposal will secure the long-term future of the club, providing greater certainty that the club will continue to create more history,” said the communication, which was issued by Jonathan Brown, The Glen’s general manager.\n<\/p>\n

\n Despite the enthusiastic tone of the email, The Glen’s management committee says in it that it is not recommending either acceptance or rejection of the partnership and has organised a series of engagement evenings for club members to find out more.\n<\/p>\n

\n The first takes place at the clubhouse on Thursday, July 23, and others are on July 29, August 9 and August 15 (all 7pm). The directors of TALGC will answer questions.\n<\/p>\n

\n The partnership will only move forward if it is approved by two-thirds of voting members at a special general meeting, scheduled for September 2.\n<\/p>\n

\n However, one club member told the Courier he feared that the partnership would end up \u201csaddling the club with millions of pounds of debt\u201d.\n<\/p>\n

\n “The Glen is about the last course in the North Berwick area which is affordable – in years to come, this could make it out of reach for ordinary locals and visitors,” he said.\n<\/p>\n

\n But another member said: “It looks like this company wants a foothold in East Lothian and wants to start here. I’m against it but I was playing at the weekend and a surprising amount of members are veering towards voting yes.”\n<\/p>\n

\n The Glen and TALGC have been approached for comment.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Members at The Glen Golf Club, North Berwick, are set to be asked to vote on whether to…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":702051,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,101,56,54,55],"class_list":["post-702050","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-golf","tag-sports","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-unitedkingdom"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702050","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=702050"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/702050\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/702051"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=702050"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=702050"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=702050"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}