A proposal to merge Monifieth’s four golf clubs has been killed stone dead.
Members of Monifieth Golf Club decided they are not interested in the far-reaching plan to form a new single club on the Angus links.
The proposal from the Monifieth golf inter-club group appeared to command support from most golfers from the four clubs in an advisory ballot held a month ago.
It produced an overall result of 63% favouring and 37% opposing amalgamation into a new club to address problems of declining membership and a fall in the number of young adults playing on the Medal and Ashludie courses.
Merging was presented as an approach that would cut costs and give golf at Monifieth a more secure future.
The ballot result was not binding, but it paved the way for further discussion by the individual clubs.
The Grange club voted 73%-27% in the ballot for merging into a new club, the Broughty club 57%-43% and the Monifieth club 55%-45%.
The Ladies’ Panmure club rejected the idea by 70%-30%, but its smaller membership was not seen as sufficient to sink the plan.
The Monifieth club has now formally rejected the idea, and its opposition is fatal to the proposal as presented by the inter-club group.
Despite its members backing the plan in the ballot they also voted 57% to 43% for clubhouse sharing in a statement it described the results of the inter-club survey as “inconclusive.”
The statement explained that an open meeting of members decided “by a large majority of those in attendance, that the membership was no longer interested in the recent proposals to investigate club sharing or amalgamation with other golf clubs in Monifieth.”
The meeting had been called to discuss the results of the survey and decide on the way forward for Monifieth Golf Club.
“Those present were given an overview of current financial position, future financial projections and membership demographics and trends,” the statement continued.
“The membership of the club, now around 320, has fallen in recent years, but the club remains in a healthy financial position.
“There was a lot of discussion about ways in which the club could be rejuvenated, including the need to find new younger members and gain family involvement.
“The club council was then given the mandate to carry on as Monifieth Golf Club and regenerate itself with the implementation of some of the ideas discussed at the meeting.”
Monifieth Golf Club, established in 1858, is the oldest of the four golf clubs at Monifieth links.
Jackie Brown, the first female club captain of one of the oldest golf clubs in Scotland, said: “I’m delighted as the oldest established club at Monifieth that we can move forward and focus on the future of Monifieth Golf Club.
“This has been a wake-up call, and while we recognise the challenges ahead I look forward to the future of Monifieth Golf club and encourage anyone who is considering golf at Monifieth to contact us for membership.”
Jack Hutcheon, chairman of the inter-club group, said: “We understand the Monifieth club’s decision and respect the views of its members.”
He is captain of the Grange Club, which will meet next week to discuss its response to the survey results.