£1m losses force Drumoig to close

Douglas Lowe, The Herald, 21 November 2003

The Scottish National Golf Centre at Drumoig, Fife, closed its doors yesterday after just under four years of operation during which it incurred losses of around £1m.

Hopes remain that a buyer will be found for what was once regarded as "the home and heart of Scottish golf", but, in the meantime, 11 of 13 staff have been made redundant and the operation is being retained on a care and main-tenance basis only.

The centre cost £4.5m to build, the money raised mostly by mandatory contributions from almost 200,000 golfers affiliated through their clubs to the Scottish Golf Union.

It has been generally recognised that the state-of-the-art facility rated the best of its kind in Europe, was built in the wrong place, a rural location between Dundee and St Andrews. As a result, it attracted insufficient customers.

The SNGC separated from the SGU 16 months ago and came under the operational company Scottish Golf Ltd which placed the centre in receivership two months ago. Blair Nimmo, head of KPMG Corporate Recovery in Scotland, said yesterday:

"Unfortunately, at this time of year, trading is such that we have had to close the centre as it continues to incur significant losses.

"We will operate the centre on a care and maintenance basis while we pursue a number of interested parties."

"Obviously, it is with dis-appointment that we have had to make today's announcement and we would like to thank all those concerned for their co-operation to date. "Despite the present situation, we are still hopeful of achieving a sale that will allow the centre to reopen."

Nimmo received more than 40 expressions of interest and five weeks ago set a closing date with the intention of declaring a preferred bidder within a month. A big stumbling block is thought to be the lease set at just £26 a year with landlords Torith, but only provided there is no change in the way the centre operates.

The centre offers teaching, coaching, and practice facilities including an indoor practice area, the V1 digital coaching system, a gymnasium, and fitness room.