This article is from page 8 of the 2008-12-30 edition of The Clare People. OCR mistakes are to be expected so download the original SWF or the rendered page 8 JPG
FINAL financial figures are expected to show that Lahinch Golf Club suf- fered a loss of €600,000 in 2008.
The number of golfers playing green fee rounds at the world famous golf course declined steeply in 2008 to 12,000, from a high in 2002 of Rol OeF
Since 2006 there has also been a 40 per cent drop in golfing tours visiting Lahinch. The figures are contained in Lahinch Golf Club’s Christmas newsletter to its members.
Club captain and Council Chairper- son, Padraig McInerney wrote, “As you are well aware, these are major recessionary times that we now live in. Lahinch Golf Club is not immune and has been hit by a large reduction in the number of green fee rounds being played during the year, mainly by our American friends.
He added, “These are down from a high of 19,600 in 2002 to 12,000 in 2008. This means that income for 2008 is well down and will result in losses for the year ended December 31 of £600,000 approximately.
“Tour operators golf rounds are down from 5,650 in 2006 to 3,450 in 2008 (40 per cent). The clubhouse refurbishment was deferred for these reasons and will be revisited once we have some stability. We expect these trends to continue into 2009 and we will be budgeting for further reduc- Wey e
Mr McInerney also outlines how the club plans to tackle the problem
of falling tourist numbers.
“Going forward, the council have agreed to tackle these problems in three ways: 1) We are conducting a major review of the club’s overhead, work practices and contract agree- ments to see where savings can be made; 2) We are reviewing our mar- keting strategy with a view to stabi- lizing and maximizing our green fee income; 3) We are also reviewing all categories of club membership, vis a vis the value we have to offer our existing members and prospective
members.”
Lahinch Golf Club opened its doors to 22 new members in 2008. Welcoming the new members Mr McInerney explained the new en- trants are “made up of seven spouses and siblings of existing members, nine brothers and sisters of existing members, five from the immediate locality and one, not from the afore- mentioned localities.”