THE FUTURE of the golf course at Leamington’s Newbold Comyn is hanging in the balance.
Warwick District Council has now severed ties with management company Mack Golf after it withdrew from its contract to manage the 18-hole course. The council had considered taking legal action against Mack Golf, but as the authority had not been happy for some time with the firm’s running of the course, decided instead to end the contractual relationship – which was to have run until 2060.
Council chiefs are now looking to the future and will consider the way forward at a meeting on Wednesday (March 7).
They are expected to agree to spend £50,000 hiring specialist consultants to draw up possible options.
And while any sort of housing development has been ruled out, no other suggestions for the land have been put forward.
Although a report to the council’s executive committee notes the popularity of golf at the Newbold Comyn has declined, it could still remain a golf course. With that possibility, the councillors are also set to agree spending a further £50,000 for the maintenance of the existing course while not in use.
The last rounds of golf were played at the course on New Year’s Eve. Footpaths around the course remain open, but golfers are not permitted to use the fairways and greens.
The 6,315 yard course was created from ridge and furrow farmland in 1973 and was recognised as one of the finest municipal courses in the West Midlands.
In the wake of the council’s decision to ditch Mack Golf, the Leamington Society called for a public debate on the whole future of Newbold Comyn.
