A worrying trend

I am provoked to write having listened to various people bemoaning the potential loss of a large number of public swimming pools. I sympathise with their cause, but I fail to understand why there has not been the same anguish, including in your editorials, at the loss of public pitch and putt courses over the past three to five years. Three or four years ago, I had the choice of five pitch and putts within a 35-minute drive from my home. I would now have to drive two hours to play one.

My interest in golf was sparked by visits to pitch and putt courses with my uncle when I was a young teenager over 50 years ago. In my view, it was the only hope of getting youngsters from limitedincome families into the sport. Then, as they aged and started earning, they might have been able to progress to full-size courses, as I did.

Not only do pitch and putts offer access for youngsters but they also give seniors the chance to keep their interest going when full courses get too much, there is a huge public and mental health benefit and they can appeal to all ages and sexes.