Bold plan to get golfers back on fairways

WALMER Country Club (WCC) has come up with an innovative idea to attract visitors to the club at a time when many golf clubs are battling to keep their heads above water.

Starting tomorrow, WCC will be hosting monthly competition at a vastly reduced rate to see what sort of response they get from golfing enthusiasts.

Clubs around the Eastern Cape are feeling the economic pinch as golfers scale down on their visits to various courses, leaving some clubs pondering a somewhat bleak future.

Green fees in excess of R100, plus a light meal at the halfway house and a round of refreshments afterwards mean there is precious little change from R200 for your average round of golf.

To see if a reduced rate would bring the golfers back, long-time WCC member Andre Rheeder persuaded the WCC committee to seize an opportunity by offering a monthly competition for R50 a round.

Explaining the concept, Rheeder said: "The R50 green fee will only apply to one competition a month, the purpose being to attract many golfers who are not playing because of the current playing fees.

"The idea is to get as many players on the course for one day a month until December. The plan will not make us richer or poorer, but it will give us an idea of how many golfers out there still want to play." The reduced rate will kick off tomorrow, with tee-offs from 8am to 9am on both nines when a fun par-three competition will be held.

Besides the regular par-three holes, the remaining 14 holes on the 18-hole course will be marked down to 160 metres or less.

"Depending on how well this is supported will determine the next few formats until December," Rheeder said. "The R50 green fee is open to anyone wanting to play at WCC in these competitions." - Neale Emslie