Fury as sports club kicked off golf course
A furious sports group say they have been banned from playing on a council facility by hard nosed officials.
Ayr FootGolf Club were champions of Scotland until South Ayrshire chiefs turfed them from their home course at Dalmilling before the onset of Covid.
Office bearers at County Buildings cited financial reasons insisting they could make more money from traditional golf at the course.
But they pledged to form a new ‘Golf Strategy,’ giving hope that FootGolf could be included in the new vision.
Some 18 months on, answers are still being sought with council bosses admitting it could be DECEMBER before they finally come up with a plan.
Now the club, who were helping to provide a vital sporting activity in the north of Ayr, are taking their case to Scotland’s Public Services Ombudsman.
David Craig, chairman of Ayr FootGolf Club, said: “We’ve often felt the contempt of South Ayrshire Council officials for those who have grown up or live in poverty.
“I expected it to be a challenge to step into the world of golf and prove the case for access to a golf course that wasn’t based on purely revenue generation.
“Having said that, I didn’t expect the contempt for those wishing to access a local amenity, in the area they live in, to be quite so unguarded and blatant.”
Council chiefs have asked the Ayr club to switch base to Maybole, nine miles away, in a bid to prove the case for their existence.
But with members slowly dropping off as a result of being kicked from their home town, the club has now gone into reluctant hibernation.
David added: “We are being asked to prove our worth to Ayr North by operating in Maybole, which is baffling.
“A community group operating with links in a specific community would not be asked, in any other operational context, within any public service body, to prove their worth in an entirely different locality .
“If we are to prove FootGolf’s operational value, we need access to facilities in the area they would operate in moving forward.
“We’ve always operated harmoniously beside the golfers at
Dalmilling and there has never been a problem with us both using the facility.
“This purely comes down to the council wanting to make more money.
“We have had a huge amount of support from elected members, which has been greatly appreciated.
“But the lack of empathy, sympathy and even, at times, basic courtesy from officers has been nothing short of shocking.”
A council spokesman said: “Footgolf was trialled for a limited period at Dalmilling Golf Course prior to the pandemic.
“Since the return to golf was permitted, all our golf courses have become considerably busier.
“The council agreed a Golf Strategy in December and during the course of this year officers will be undertaking work to explore the use of each of our golf courses, including the opportunity to include other leisure pursuits such as footgolf or walking on some of our courses, with recommendations put forward to a council meeting by December.
“The club is able to use Maybole Golf Course and the club were involved in designing the course layout at Maybole to ensure it met their needs.”