A petition has been launched to save a golf club in Lancashire that is set to close down at the end of March.
‘Save Beacon Park Golf Club’ has already received hundreds of signatures.
At the end of last year West Lancashire Borough Council decided that the Donald Steel-designed Beacon Park Golf Centre will close this spring so the authority can develop Beacon Country Park’s facilities and green spaces.
Councilor Carl Coughlan said: “The current golfing facility has for many years required a significant subsidy to run. The decision taken represents the beginning of the journey in West Lancashire to reshape and revitalize our health, wellbeing and leisure offer, and I am grateful for the cross-party support to help us deliver the first significant step on this journey.”
Local golfer Jack Flaherty says the venue has a proud history but has been poorly managed for more than a decade.
“In the early 2000s the course was highly rated and the club had over 500 members,” he said.
However, things took a turn for the worse in the 2010s when some improvement plans did not materialise, investment dropped and the course began to deteriorate, which led to a significant drop in membership numbers, he said.
“It was only recently through Covid that they hired a greenkeeper to sort the course out. He did an amazing job with no budget, at times borrowing materials from nearby golf clubs. Now, just as it’s getting back on its feet, and member numbers are increasing, they will close down the course,” he stated. “The councilors have not listened to the community.”
He added that there will be a fundraising golf event at the course on February 26, with money raised used for the campaign.