9:40am Monday 9th March 2009
THE final nail has been hammered into the coffin of a popular Hampshire golf course.
Despite Eastleigh Borough Council’s decision last year to close the loss-making 18-hole course at Fleming Park, campaigners had hoped a shortened version could still be left open.
The authority voted last November to convert the 71-acre site into an informal leisure area for walkers and cyclists, because the number of golfers using it has plummeted.
Management company DC Leisure, which last year made a loss of £120,000 on the course it has run since 2000, said the number of rounds played annually has slumped from 67,000 in 1993 to just 28,000.
After agreeing to close the 18-hole course, councillors asked authority officers to examine whether the site could still be used for some sort of golfing facility.
But the council’s Cabinet has now agreed that introducing a nine-hole course on the site is not a financially viable option.
Officers told them the course would have to be lengthened if a reduced-hole version was to appeal to enough golfers.
That would mean only a small pocket of land on the far side of the M3 from the leisure centre would be converted from golfing use, and the running costs would not be reduced enough to cover lost revenue.
The course, which opened in 1974 and once played host to a prestigious professional women’s tournament, will now close at the end of this month.
Former president of the now-disbanded Fleming Park Golf Club, Alan Wheavil said he was saddened, but not surprised by the decision.
More than 80 golfers have already signed up to a final tournament on the course, which he has organised for March 29.
“After watching it grow for 30-odd years, it’s very disappointing,” said Mr Wheavil.
“You would have thought after all this time I might have been allowed some input, but it seems like a done deal to me.”
Residents will now be invited to give their thoughts on how the land should be used, in another round of consultation.
As well as walking and cycling facilities, suggestions already put forward include parkland, picnic areas and allotments.
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