THEY are unique ideas to help tackle a problem faced by golf clubs across the world.

From 'footgolf' to greens with holes the size of pizzas which reduce the time it takes for a round and bicycles replacing buggies to add an active workout into the game, clubs are considering a range of measures to combat a dramatic decline in membership.

According to Alistair Dunsmuir editor of the Golf Club Management magazine and website, the existing membership model in Britain, USA, Canada, Australia, New Zealand and large parts of Europe is "just dying".

In the country of golf's birth, membership of the 593 clubs affiliated to the Scottish Golf Union (SGU) has dropped by 46,386 to 218,326 since 2004 - a fall of almost 18 per cent.

Mr Dunsmuir said: "The elite five per cent such as Dornoch, Muirfield, St Andrews are never going to have a problem, but the middle of the road 18-hole courses do."

He estimated that that 70 to 75 per cent of clubs were struggling.

"The rich American will never want to play them, while local people don't want to spend half a day playing 18 holes and be told what to wear when they are doing it.

"Twenty five years ago there were three or four times the number of people playing golf as went cycling. Now it is the other way round."

There appears to be a particular problem with female members, with the number of women registered with Scottish golf clubs down almost 20 per cent. The decline in male membership, by comparison, is just over 14 per cent.

Mr Dunsmuir said golf clubs were "shockingly bad at attracting women".

"They have to reach out to them," he said. "Get rid of their dress codes. Have a woman professional and market women-only coaching sessions. The clubs that have done this are seeing huge increases."

Other clubs have come up with different ideas to drive revenue. In Britain over 50 clubs, including Cowal at Dunoon, now offer 'footgolf' which is proving particularly popular with stag parties.

Andy Salmon, deputy chief executive of the SGU, is more optimistic about the future of golf clubs, and is particularly hopeful the Ryder Cup bounce will reinvigorate the sport.

Because of the prestigious competition, Scottish Government support has enabled the SGU to expand its programme over the next four years.

"From being just about introducing children to the game we are now looking to encourage children and adults, thereby introducing families into the game," Mr Salmon said.

But he said while the established model still works for certain clubs, "others have to recognise consumer demand has changed. If people want just to play golf for an hour or so, clubs have to find a way of making that easy for them."

However, he denied dozens of clubs were about to close. "In fact there have only be four or five in the last five years," he said.

Recent reports that Castle Park Golf Club in East Lothian could become the third golf venue in the Lothians to close in less than 18 months have been dismissed.

A spokesman for the club said "We have a membership of 350 plus which is a wee bit down but that's certainly not why the club is up for sale. It's because our owners are actually retiring. They have had the course for nine years and are in their 70s, so have decided to sell it."

The Nairn Golf Club, meanwhile, may have been ranked number nine on the list of Top 100 Courses in Scotland 2014 and boasts a membership of 1,400 and a year's waiting list.

But Fraser Cromarty, the club's CEO, said it still faced serious challenges, not least an ageing membership.

"When young members are18 or 19 they jump to adult membership which is significantly more expensive. Here it used to go from £75 to £685. So we have introduced an 18 to 30 category to try to retain that age group, which we had been losing. That costs £360."

But he said that some clubs were struggling, a fact which he will raise when he meets the VisitScotland hierarchy next week.

"How does Scottish golf capitalise on the Ryder Cup? That's the question I will be asking," he said.