The oldest golf club in the Blue Mountains is making an SOS call to members and Leura residents in a bid to keep it financially viable beyond the end of June.
The board of the 107-year-old Leura Golf Club issued a letter to members following an extraordinary meeting held on January 24, expressing “cautious optimism” that an immediate black hole of $100,000 could be filled by members’ personal loans by February 10.
That would ensure adequate time for the member-owned club to complete a feasibility study and to report by mid-March on medium and long term strategies to release the value of club assets.
Options include developing strategic partnerships and selling some land to achieve an endowed income.
Club president Stanley Croker, who wrote a book documenting the club’s history and centenary in 2002, said sometimes you don’t know what you have until you face losing it.
“In a way you can’t quantify the amenity of Leura Golf Club and what immense value it has as a community asset not only to members and Leura residents but to the Blue Mountains as a whole,” Mr Croker told the Gazette on Friday.
“It is not unlike the importance of the Carrington Hotel to Katoomba.
“You only have to say what if this was all housing instead of open space.”
Mr Stanley said while there were some differences of opinion between the 82 members that attended the extraordinary meeting, there was unity in the determination to keep the club trading.
“There was a strong sense from members of goodwill and a desire for the club to continue because it is important.”
General manager Michael Anstiss said golf club membership has declined across Australia since 1998, but Leura Golf Club experienced a particularly sharp fall in the last three years.
“There are a variety of reasons for the decline such as the ageing of our membership base and falling poker machine, bar and functions income.
“There was a good rapport with the Fairmont Resort in previous years but that’s fallen away since 2007 because they weren’t getting the customers they used to.
“The December quarter was absolutely terrible compared to the previous year and that brought about the extraordinary meeting and the necessity to say to members, ‘do you want the club to survive?’.
“The club has tried many things in the last six months including offering half-yearly memberships, 1000 ‘stay and play’ vouchers, golf club hole sponsorship and establishing a wine club, but it’s clear the business model we’ve had for 20 years needs to change. Everything is on the table and we will look at all options.”
Golf membership at the club fell from 830 in 2002 to 570 in 2007 and then more than halved to just 230 by September 2009.
While gross revenue averaged $1.2 million per year between 2002 and 2007, it fell to $800,000 in 2009 and is predicted to slide to $670,000 this year.
Mr Stanley said the club recovered from a similar predicament in the late 1970s and is determined to remain afloat.
The club intends to hold a community meeting at the clubhouse within two weeks to appeal to the broader public and will deliver invitations to letterboxes within a few hundred metres of the golf courses’ boundaries.
A fund-raising tally will be posted on the club’s website at www.leuragolfclub.com.au by the end of this week.
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