MANY golfers face more and more pressing demands on their time and wallets these days and find full membership difficult to justify to themselves and their families. Largs Golf Club has responded to that difficult choice by introducing Lifestyle — an innovative alternative to full membership that allows YOU to play golf when YOU want to and at a cost governed by how often YOU play.

The traditional system of an annual subscription, which allows members unlimited play plus the right to take part in club-organised competitions, will continue to go forward. But this new Lifestyle initiative would appear to be the perfect answer for those who decide to move away from full membership in favour of payment for golf as and when they choose to play.

So what is Lifestyle Membership?

It is a swipe card-based system where the card is “loaded” with an up-front payment of £300, £50 of which is allocated to discounted clubhouse use and £250 redeemable for golf.

Golf is paid for at a pre-set tariff varied for time of day, week and year at an average cost per round- about £17.50 depending on own preferences. Members can play up to two mid-week strokeplay competitions per month in order to retain a handicap which will be administered by the club. They can sign in guests at the same tariff.

If the £250 is used up, then members may top-up in minimum quantities of £50.

Junior and Student categories of Lifestyle are available, too. As with normal memberships, the cost for these categories is correspondingly lower than for adults.

In launching the Lifestyle enterprise, which is now available, club captain David Macdonald said: “We are all excited by this new development. Our course is the best conditioned parkland course in the West of Scotland and yet we are not exempt from the drift away from the game seen throughout the UK. We are determined to maintain our quality of offering to all members and Lifestyle promises to attract back many who have temporarily left the sport. It will also encourage those who are swithering to stay with us.

“This is a very affordable solution for those who do not want to be burdened by a full subscription but who want to take out their clubs as and when it suits them.” For further details please contact The Secretary, Largs Golf Club, Irvine Road, Largs KA30 8EU Telephone 01475 673594. Email secretary@largsgolfclub.co.uk