ONE of the city’s six public golf courses has been closed due to a lack of staff.
Glasgow Life, the council’s cultural and sporting arm, said the closure of Ruchill golf course was “unavoidable” and temporary.
A spokeswoman said the decision to shut the course was not linked to recent consultation on the future of the city’s municipal courses.
However, concerned golfers fear the nine-hole course has been closed “surreptitiously”.
John McDermott went to play the course on Tuesday but found its gates locked. “It is claimed to be a temporary closure but the greens have perished and there is no way that course can be played again without investment,” he said.
“The course looked well laid out, had good views and could be attractive but it’s been abandoned and gone to ruin. A disappointing loss of facilities for Glaswegians.
“It’s my opinion this is a permanent closure, done surreptitiously.”
The course at Ruchill was reopened in 2009 by Glasgow-born professional golfer Colin Montgomerie.
Consultation on the future of Glasgow’s six public courses – Littlehill, Lethamhill, Linn Park, Knightswood, Ruchill and Alexandra Park – was launched in June due to low usage and a “substantial annual deficit”.
Options being considered include reducing fees, restricting opening hours or scrapping the courses.
Golfers, and Labour councillors, have opposed the process, with some fearing land has been earmarked for development. A claim which has been denied by Bailie Norman MacLeod, chair of a working party looking at the future of golf in the city.
A Glasgow Life spokeswoman said: “The closure of Ruchill golf course has been unavoidable.
Due to the loss of seasonal staff recruited specifically for summer, and a large number of vacancies across the Glasgow Sport estate, we have been presented with operational challenges with regard to minimum staffing numbers which were insurmountable.
“We looked at usage figures across our outdoor venues and, as Ruchill was the least used in recent months, we made the decision to relocate existing staff to other venues to ensure only one course is closed.
The organisation says it has undertaken a “significant recruitment drive” to address some of the staffing issues.
“Those staff – and the next wave of recruitment – will help to us minimise service disruption.”
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