Hurlston Hall Golf Club-A sad demise

[charnockpro]

As the place where i started my employment in golf, it pains me to see this great design and complex enter into administration just 1 week ago.
icLiverpool - Fraud-claim golf club goes into administration

I worked for 6 years here, and at one time during a very big transitional period i worked 84 hrs a week 6 weeks straight to keep the pro shop and driving range running for the owners, i know now the pitfalls of golf course operation in the modern marketplace one of them being a golf club run by a former farmer is not a recipe for success, they also got rid of the Director of golf title and handed overall running to a general manager who to his detriment had no real golf pedigree.

There is now going to be another period of transition for this club again, i feel for the members as they are keen golfers with a hunger for bettering themselves and a great bunch of people to boot, i just hope that the new owners (rumors of a members buy out) will invest in the infrastructure of the golf course and maintenance and not in building supplementary structures i.e gym's and basically lose focus on your core business GOLF!!.

http://www.maghull-group.co.uk/pdfs/..._golf_club.pdf

This is a golf complex maybe 25 minutes away and opened the same time as the aformentioned club, there has been constant investment and now during a period of change in UK golf they are close to capacity in membership and are looking at closing the membership for the present time, which in the l;ast five years is unheard of.

UK golf courses are not a licence to print money, but at the same time they can be nice little earners of a long term period, with the right tweak here and a little polish there, i hope for the members of Hurlston Hall GC that everything goes ok and moves on and forward.

My suggestions would be

1.Concentrate on the core business and bring the STRI in to analyse the structure of the drainage and green composition as there is a story of bad building practice during original construction

2.Licence the gym out to a national chain therefore getting an income off the centre without the pressure of running costs

3.Develop the golf shop into a golf shop again and not just a drink and snack centre, maube again outsource the stocking to a major online and golf strong brand because as a retail space it is as good as a any

4.Develop driving range and invest constantly in balls and mats and power tees in every bay.

Just a few ideas!!

This is the actual prospectus for the sale that was trying to be forced through before administration
http://search.struttandparker.com/dy...hment_3121.pdf