Barking up wrong tree

I read with interest Peter Barker’s letter in Thursday’s Taranaki

Daily News regarding the ‘‘inevitable demise’’ of our golf club as an 18-hole course. The question of club amalgamations has long been posed in Taranaki and he is correct that they are probably inevitable.

As Fitzroy Golf Club has the larger membership, perhaps he may consider approaching his own club to merge with ours. In reality, neither club has any intention of, or a need, to merge with any other club at this point in time. As the Fitzroy Golf Club’s president I can assure Mr Barker that we do not share his fatalistic view on our future.

Mr Barker’s observation that golf clubs in the area struggle to retain their memberships and these members are aging is on the whole correct, but is not in itself an argument to support the sell-off of reserve status land to developers.

What Mr Barker fails to mention is the growing number of young people who prefer the freedom to choose, not only what they play, but when they play. For them membership is a mill stone they do not wish to be burdened with. Our parent body, NZ Golf, noted that more rounds of golf than ever before are being played in this country, with over 11,000 rounds being played at Fitzroy, in 2017.

The challenge that all golf clubs face is how to engage with these younger players, and as New Plymouth’s only municipal golf course, Fitzroy Golf Club has a key role to play in making our sport accessible to all.

We understand that not everybody shares our desire to continue in our current form, but your readers can be assured we will continue to fight for what we believe our members, our local community and many other supporters want; an 18-hole golf course for all.

Mike Earley

Fitzroy Golf Club