Drive to attract families

By Douglas Lowe, Golf Correspondent, The Herald, 11 March 2008

The Duke of Montrose, one of the United Kingdom's most senior politicians, is at the cutting edge of a far-sighted development that could give club golf in Scotland a big push into the modern era.

"Golf needs a broader participation," said the 72-year-old shadow minister for Scotland and the only duke who has a seat in the House of Lords as an elected hereditary peer. "It used to be for gents on a Saturday afternoon. Now it's spreading out, particularly with younger people, and that is something we have to address."

The Buchanan Castle course, near Drymen, is part of Montrose Estates of which he is managing director, and he is lending support to a £200,000 development aimed at opening up the one-time private club and laying out the welcome mat to families and juniors.

A six-hole par-3 course - there are plans to increase it to nine - and a dedicated short-game area are already in place, work is due to start soon on a golf range that will be open to all, and three holes of the classic James Braid-designed course have been realigned and improved to accommodate the new facilities, all located close to a clubhouse that is filled with history.

The former Buchanan House features among its many portraits a racehorse called Sefton that was trained on the land before it was a golf course and won the Derby in 1878. You also access the course through an arch in a creeper-clad 17th-century wall, a portal to a new beginning.

"There are many new courses springing up in Scotland, but that's not going to work if you have the same number of players," said the duke. "Our effort is to try to expand the field. With the pressure on young couples, for example, it has to be a family activity if you are going to get them involved at all, otherwise they will choose to do

In common with many Scottish clubs, the average age of the membership at Buchanan Castle has risen and numbers have fallen over the past four decades to the extent that a healthy waiting list in the recent past has changed to a shortfall.

Against this background, the club has just voted in favour of establishing a separate and more economical membership for the shorter course, where adult and junior beginners can be coached before being encouraged to tackle the big course and become full members.

"The idea is that you can come here not knowing a thing about golf, take lessons and, if you like that, you can join the par-3 course where you can play and improve without getting in the way of members," he continued. "Eventually, when you are confident enough, you can join as a member."

Taking a wider view, the duke recognised that with the absence of facilities like this in the vicinity, beginners could travel from further afield and that may ultimately lead to new members for other clubs as well.

"It is a big culture change for us," he continued. "This was a highly-exclusive members' club and we had a tremendous clientele among the professional people. We have gradually expanded beyond that, but the actual numbers have been dropping off and that brings us to where we are now.

"I am sure that, over the next year or two, other clubs who are fortunate like us in having the land available to make such changes will be doing the same."

Buchanan Castle is also set to become the main centre of the area for the Scottish Government-backed clubgolf programme that is aimed at introducing every nine-year-old in Scotland to golf. That's around 50,000 children and one of the obstacles to long-term success of the project is bridging the gap between schools, where the youngsters are introduced to golf with special oversize equipment, and clubs.

Keith Baxter, the club professional at Buchanan Castle, has been aware since the clubgolf plans were launched by Colin Montgomerie six years ago that traditional Scottish golf, frequently featuring 18 holes and cramped practice areas, has been crying out for this kind of facility. "We now have a pathway here that can take golfers from complete beginner right through to international level," he said.

Junior membership at the club has fallen to 38 and work to increase that figure will begin in earnest on March 30 when 100 primary school children from the surrounding area attend a coaching clinic.

"Our ultimate goal is to have the whole family playing golf," added Baxter. "A lot of emphasis nowadays is put on family time, but golf is not really set up for it, even though it is one of the few sports where the whole family can play together as equals thanks to the handicap system.

"We are fully committed to this programme to encourage more people to the game."