Exclusive:Why Hollandbush could be template for Dalmuir's fight for survival

It’s close to being put into operation at Winterfield in Dunbar, has just been granted for Hollandbush in Lanarkshire and could be what keeps Dalmuir in Clydebank open.

The term Community Asset Transfer or CAT for short has suddenly become something familiar in golf, but, before anyone gets carried away about it being used in the case of Dalmuir after its well-publicised position in recent weeks, it’s not just a case of a magic wand being waved.

“We are not out of the woods,” warned Jeph Hamilton, chair of a new board of trustees, of the situation still facing Hollandbush despite the Coalburn club being ahead of Dalmuir in their respective fights to stay open at a time when golf courses have become targets around Scotland amidst council cuts.

Hollandbush is widely regarded as being one of the better municipal layouts in Scotland | Contributed

Twelve months ago, Hollandbush earned a reprieve after it had been targeted for possible closure by South Lanarkshire Council and now it has been granted a Community Asset Transfer similar to the one that will see Winterfield take over the day-to-day running of its course and clubhouse from East Lothian Council and EnjoyLeisure on 1 April.

“The hard work starts now,” declared Mags Cathcart, the Hollandbush Golf Club manager, as she announced the venue’s latest boost - it was made possible after support from the council's wider £1 million Community Fightback Fund allowed it to remain open in the first place - and she certainly wasn’t kidding because it is going to take a big push to get everything in place that will help secure its long-term future.

The course, which opened in 1954 and is widely regarded as being one of the better municipal layouts in Scotland, is currently maintained by South Lanarkshire Council while membership services and the booking functions and starter’s hut is operated by South Lanarkshire Leisure. The building that houses Hollandbush Golf Club is run by the club itself and it will continue to do so, but, under the CAT, the course and membership services will both be operated by the golf club with the course element having been set up as a Scottish Charitable Incorporated Organisation (SCIO).

When exactly that will happen has still to be agreed, but it certainly won’t be on 1 April, as had originally been suggested by the council in the build-up to the CAT decision on 26 February.

“I had kind of been involved behind the scenes but, just before Christmas, Mags asked me due to my background - I’m the chair of Fife Sports and Leisure Trust - if I would come in and sit on the board of trustees that she was putting together,” Hamilton told Scotland on Sunday. “I was then asked at a meeting in January if I would become the chair, which I accepted as my grandfather, dad and several other family members helped build the original course and establish Hollandbush.

Members of Hollandbush Golf Club are being urged to play their part in making the Community Asset Transfer work at the South Lanarkshire venue | Contributed

“As I then rolled the sleeves up with my fellow trustees, I said ‘wait a minute, what is going on with this process’ because they were saying that the final decision wasn’t being made until 26 February and they were talking about having no budget to run the course from 1 April.

“That, of course, made me think there was no transition timeline in there at all to execute an appropriate transfer. So through liaising with South Lanarkshire Leisure and South Lanarkshire Council to gain appropriate due diligence data to help us truly test the business case and make sure all our assumptions were right it became apparent for the club to be a success we need to raise quite a bit of grant money.

“In those meetings with the council, I said that it was not realistic to expect to do a transition from 26 February and be up and running as an organisation on 1 April. So, thankfully, they have built in a transition period with a timeline yet to be agreed. We’ve had an initial meeting and, and we are looking at working to a sensible transition time.”

Following a recent budget meeting, Dalmuir, which had also been handed a reprieve 12 months, has now lost its funding from West Dunbartonshire Council, with local MP Douglas McAllister agreeing to head up a ‘task force’ with the aim of seeing if a Community Asset Transfer might work for it as well.

At Hollandbush, where the other board of trustee members include local solicitor Gordon Lennox and Michael Campbell, an East Kilbride man who was involved in the CAT for Winterfield, one of the main priorities is to secure crucial funding and don’t be fooled into thinking that it’s a small amount of money we are speaking about here.

“We need to raise probably £100,000 in grant money alone between now and whenever the transition is,” declared Hamilton, “and, though I wouldn’t say we are totally confident because we are testing the process, as a charity it lends us greater opportunity to leverage several local charity funds and certain national ones.

“We believe our mission is to make golf readily accessible to the South Lanarkshire constituents and support vital health and well-being aims will be a key factor in why grant funders will want to invest in the club. We truly believe that keeping people healthier longer supports the aims of the NHS and social care.

Grant money is required to ensure that the Hollandbush course can be maintained by the greenkeepers | Contributed

“The club itself is putting in a £40,000 loan and, being aware that this is probably the most complex CAT that South Lanarkshire Council has done, it doesn’t surprise me that a few people will be looking to see how we get on with this.”

It will also be down to members to do their bit by supporting the course and club in whatever way they can. For example, keeping their membership going, encouraging others to join, supporting club functions, utilising work skills or even volunteering to fill in divots to help minimise costs within the greenkeeping operation.

“My dad has a plaque beside the 14th green and we scattered his ashes there as he spent 54 wonderful years at the club. I want to push and do what I can because I would hate to see Hollandbush go to rack and ruin,” concluded Hamilton in showing the sort of passion that is required for CATs to be made possible in golf.