Grange Golf Club members angry over damage caused by LIV Golf, say they don’t want it back
They pay about $11,500 to join this exclusive club and are enraged about the damage done by the LIV Golf event - demanding it go elsewhere next year.
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Members of the exclusive club that hosted LIV Golf in April don’t want the event back next year after “excessive” damage to the course that will not be fixed for months.
Grange Golf Club members said their grounds were in disarray after the event, and have not seen adequate compensation for the damage caused by LIV Golf.
Members of the club pay an initial once-off fee of $7500 for right of entry and then a further cost of more than $4000 per year to play.
Member for more than 45 years, Trevor Craig, praised the running of LIV and said it had put the club in the “international spotlight”, but was unimpressed by the impact it had at Grange.
“A profit-making circus has come to town and the people paying the price are the members,” he said.
“We’re not a charity, we’re a private club and I don’t think we’ve been compensated adequately.”
Members did not have access to facilities days before the event, during, and several days after – and have gone “six weeks with a compromised course”.
The damage has been caused by temporary installations for the event, among other activities across LIV.
“We’ve had to park on the first fairway, which damages the grass,” he said.
Another member said there were “roadways all over the course” and the “first tee east is f***ked”.
Mr Craig said while the event was “run well” and the “course was presented beautifully”, it would take a long time to fix.
“We’re going to have a mess for six months and then it’s going to be back again,” he said.
The damage was so great “the groundskeeping staff can’t do their normal job”.
Members were given free tickets as compensation for the disruption to their club but they feared they had paid “too big a price” to have the event at their club.
“We were promised it would be given back the way they received it,” Mr Craig said.
He said “quite a few” members do not want LIV to return.
Grange Golf Club’s general manager Barry Linke said many people were looking forward to the event returning.
“We have received many emails, letters and phone calls congratulating the club for delivering the event,” Mr Linke said.
A survey of club members after LIV Golf revealed 86 per cent of responders were “satisfied or very satisfied” with the event and 7 per cent were neutral.
Seven per cent of the members surveyed were “dissatisfied or very dissatisfied”.
Mr Linke said the club was working with LIV to remedy damage to the course and were focusing on the next event.
“We look forward to planning the next event with more preparation time than was available for this year’s event.”
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Originally published as Grange Golf Club members angry over damage caused by LIV Golf, say they don’t want it back
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