GLENISLA GOLF CLUB TO CLOSE
Dozen full time staff to lose jobs
It has been reported that Glenisla Golf Club, the 18-hole course, near Alyth, Scotland, will close its doors on October 31.
Golfing website bunkered.co.uk say that they have learned that the course was sold to housing developers at the end of September, with the dozen or so full-time staff informed of the news at a meeting the following week.
Glenisla opened in 1995 and was developed originally by the Glenshee Chairlift Company as a summer business to make use of its full-time ski employees during the off-season, it was bought out of receivership by the Somerville family in 2004.
In 2014, it was recognised for its value for money at the Scottish Golf Tourism Awards and currently has around 150 members.
Speaking to bunkered.co.uk, club employee Pat Heys is quoted as saying, "The course had been up for sale for some time before coming off the market. So, it came as a real shock to everyone to be called into a meeting on Friday where we told that the sale of the land to a property developer had been completed the day before. As you can imagine, everybody is very upset.
“I’m close to retirement but you feel for people like our greenkeepers who have young families to provide for and who now need to find other work,” added Heys. “It’s terribly sad. We have been told that there’s a chance a new nine-hole course may be developed on the site at some point in the future but, if that happens, it would be years from now."
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