Council tees off with Leeds golf course consultation after revenue drop

Major plans to alter a Leeds golf course have been put forward by the council in an effort to attract more players and boost revenues.

Leeds City Council is proposing a course re-configuration from 36 holes to 27 at Temple Newsam.

The two 18-hole courses at the council-owned club would be replaced by one full-size course and a new nine-hole course for inexperienced golfers and those new to the sport.

The plans have been suggested following a “considerable decline in income”, the council said, from £275,000 in 2011/12 to £139,000 in 2015/16, while the number of pay and play rounds has fallen from just below 20,000 a year to around 7,000 in the same period.

“This is due in part to weather dependency and the courses becoming too challenging for existing participants and for those who are new or entering the sport,” said the council.

“Working in close liaison with the club, the Council wants to encourage more golf participation with a focus on under represented groups which include, BME communities, ladies, youth and seniors.”

It added: “By reconfiguring both of the two existing golf courses, there is scope to create a new full size 18 hole golf course aimed at the more experienced golfer and to create a new nine hole golf course for those who are perhaps new to the sport or for those wishing to have a less challenging course option.”

The council also said that any unused land from the proposed golf course reconfiguration would then form part of the natural habitat of Temple Newsam estate.

All works would begin in 2017.

A consultation on the plans is now underway and runs until February 28.