PR FOR THE GLEN

“Course improvements underway
after a good year for the Glen,” 
says club captain Alasdair Kerr

NEWS RELEASE ISSUED BY THE GLEN GOLF CLUB, NORTH BERWICK


At its AGM, held in the clubhouse, the Glen Golf Club captain told members that the Glen Golf Club at North Berwick came through 2009 in a much better financial position than expected and announced that it was making further improvements to improve the course for members and visitors.
The Glen Golf Club had rallied well in difficult circumstances for golf in 2009 to stabilise its membership and to attract more visitors to the course.
The Glen is confident that it can approach 2010 in a healthy financial state.

Improvements to courseThe Club also announced further investment in improvements to the course and clubhouse. The club has now incorporated land acquired adjacent to the sixth and seventh holes into the course and this will come fully into play during the 2010 season. The par-5 sixth hole has also been redesigned with new bunkering on the fairway and around the green. This will ensure that the hole continues as the stroke index one hole on the course.

The Club has also invested heavily in its Junior section with expenditure on tuition and the introduction of new forward “blue tees” for Juniors which will be playable in the new season. This is part of the policy of making golf accessible to all children in Scotland.
The club’s junior section performed very strongly last year with club member Rebecca Edgar (pictured above) winning the Dunfermline Masters South qualifying event at Lothianburn and playing in the finals at Gleneagles in October.

The clubhouse’s Belhaven lounge has also been improved and is now a wonderful location for visiting societies as well as club members.

Long-time members honoured
At its AGM the club also honoured long time members Jimmy Jack and Gordon Wardrop with honorary life membership in recognition of their fifty years of membership of the club.
The club also recognised the achievements of club treasure Derek Carmichael by awarding him honorary life membership.
Club captain Alasdair Kerr said, “The Glen is a wonderful course and clubhouse which has seen major investment over the last three years. That period has been difficult for us but we are now beginning to see the benefits of our investment. This is good news for our members and for visitors to the Glen.
"In particular I am pleased that we have invested in our Junior section which is the future of the club. The Glen has always been a major course for visitors and we attracted many more than we expected in 2009 and already our bookings are looking good for 2010. We are predicting that this will continue.
"And, of course, we are praying for a good summer! But the message to visiting societies is that if you want to come to the Glen next season get your bookings in now!”

Background information
The Glen Golf Club is in East Lothian and is part of Scotland’s Golf Coast.
The Glen is one of the most scenic course in Scotland.
The Glen Golf Club was initially laid out in 1894 as a nine-hole course by the legendary Ben Sayers. In 1906 the most famous of golf course architects, James Braid extended the Glen to an 18 hole course.
The club celebrated its centenary in 2006 with the opening of a new clubhouse which has all of the facilities a modern golfer needs.
The Club has over 1000 members and attracts around 12000 visitors a year.
To mark its centenary in 2006 the club built a state of the art clubhouse which has everything the modern golfer and golf visitor needs.
The club has a very well stocked golf shop attached to the club house.
The course is in a spectacular location to the east of North Berwick. It sits on a cliff top position with every hole having a view of the sea and the Bass Rock. To the east the course has views of the ruins of Tantallon Castle.
The course has been undergoing improvements over the past few years and has new greens, improved bunkering and two of the holes have been extended to create par fives.

The Glen has also recently introduced new forward tees to encourage junior players to take up the game. The Glen has one of the best Junior coaching set ups in Scotland.

The Glen has been featured in many television golf shows and magazine articles.

This year the USPGA told 3.2 million readers on its website that
“The Glen is …. as welcoming an institution as you will ever come across.
Barely a century old, The Glen may lack the seniority of its more famous neighbour, the West Links, but any comparative youth is more than made up for by buckets full of charm, personality and the genuine Scottish golf experience it bestows on each and every visitor…..anyone who fails to enjoy their round here, doesn't really enjoy golf at all ….but for true drama, few holes in Scotland can match the 13th, the Sea Hole. An attention grabbing par-3 which, aided by the incessant though ever changing wind, might call for a pitching wedge one day and a 3 iron the next. The green lies almost surrounded by the sea, among rocks and sand -- shades of the 7th at Pebble Beach….
……For sheer character and personality, few courses can match The Glen.”

The Glen will always be remembered as the course which former US Open Champion Payne Stewart went to play after he was refused a game at Muirfield.
The Glen welcomed him!

Sandy Ross
Glen Committee marketing
07803 970 107
sandy.ross@murrayfieldmedia.com