While it's a pity that the Castle Park Golf Club in East Lothian is closing, perhaps its loss might serve as a wake-up call to the sport in Scotland to take a long, hard look at itself.
For while Scotland rightly promotes itself as the home golf - which contributes over £1bn to the Scottish economy annually - things are not so rosy at grassroots level.
The focus of the international golfing world may be on the Open at St Andrews in July, following last year's spectacular Ryder Cup at Gleneagles. But the uncomfortable truth is that closer to home, it's a case of familiarity breeding if not contempt, then at least complacency. For the 18-hole Castle Park is not the only club to have faced dwindling membership: it's a common cry of too many.
The Scottish Golf Union is attempting to modernise the game: members are being urged to vote for a proposed a merger with the Scottish Ladies' Golfing Association "and take the opportunity to make a difference to the future structure of the game in this country".
It's worth remembering that for the first time since 1904, golf will be part of the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016. Let's hope that event will provide the impetus for the home of golf to get its act together and nurture new talent. Maybe then we will be opening new clubs, not closing them.
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