UK golf club ends membership to become pay-and-play due to COVID-19

English golf club Donnington Valley has confirmed it can no longer afford to have members as a result of the coronavirus pandemic, and will instead transition to a pay-and-play club for the time being. 

Despite the rising interest in the sport following golf's return during the COVID-19 lockdown, there has been no such luck for the Berkshire club and specifically its 4-star hotel that caters for weddings and conferences, which still remains shut due to the pandemic. 

The golf course had been run as a separate club with members, but many members decided not to renew their annual subscriptions at the start of this month. The club had been subsidised by profits that its parent company had made elsewhere, and those are now non-existent due to the coronavirus pandemic. 

The club is now going to review the situation and hopes to come back with a new membership structure later this year. 

Donnington Valley Golf Course is an 18-hole, par-71 track set in beautiful rolling countryside, and it plays to 6,300 yards from the back tees. 

"Although some of the holes are quite forgiving the closing four are regarded as one of the toughest finishes in the country," reads a statement on the club's website. 

"We have assessed all the options available and have decided that as of July 17, Donnington Valley can no longer run on a membership basis and will revert to exclusively pay and play," read a letter from Andrew McKenzie, managing director of The Vineyard Group that owns the golf club and hotel.

"We will review our position over the coming months and investigate all avenues that may enhance golfers’ enjoyment of the facility, including pre-payment with discounted green fees, the ability to offer handicaps and various other options including, potentially, competitions.

"We aim to conclude this review at the end of September when the full consequences of lockdown are clearer. When the results of this are published, the temporary green fees discount will be discontinued and replaced by any schemes we introduce at that point.

"I appreciate this will come as a huge shock and disappointment for many of our longstanding and loyal members, but the unprecedented nature of this pandemic and its financial impact, coupled with many members’ reluctance to re-join on the same basis as before, has called for this drastic action.

"The profitability of the course was compromised pre-Covid due to prices not increasing in line with costs and was being underwritten by the company’s other businesses. The pandemic has badly affected our ability to continue to do this and we needed to try a different model or face the possibility of closing the course.

"The decision was fast-tracked when many of our existing members decided not to renew their annual subscription at the beginning of July.

"Our plan is to review our options over the summer and launch a new model in the autumn, but we thought it was only fair to be upfront with our members and offer those that had paid subscriptions a full refund.

"Members were also upset about missing out on playing time when we were told by the prime minister to close the course, so we are allowing them to play free of charge for the same number of days as they lost. Additionally,  we are offering them up to 33 percent off green fees moving forward.

"In the meantime, we are hoping for fine weather in the summer that will give new golfers the opportunity to try Donnington Valley Golf Course.’