Help Save Beckenham Place Park Golf Course

Lewisham Council wants to close my local golf course in Beckenham Place Park, citing lack of use.

However they're ignoring inconvenient details such as other park users (i.e. non-golfers) like the presence of golfers as it makes them feel safe (because rather than an otherwise 'deserted' space, where a walker might wonder about the motives of someone else in the park, there is a steady stream of golf players who know what they're doing and so effectively exert some authority of safety), and that the lack of attendance figures cited by Lewisham are actually wholly inaccurate.

So please, show your support for the fight against this shallow, box-ticking exercise, and sign the e-petition and pass it on to anyone you know who likes golf (or even anyone who doesn't)

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/70912

Thank you in advance, and happy new year.

JPJ,

Did Lewisham area produce any famous actors or musicians or industrialists? If you could get someone famous as both a patron and a benefactor, maybe this person could help you save the course.

Second, from a strategy standpoint: Do you have access to the financial and operational figures driving the decision? If you had these figures, possibly you could determine if the council has an underspecified model : underspecified means those framing the problem have not taken into account all relevant factors.

In the short run, do a personality analysis of the council. Do you have any leftists who oppose golf as a bourgeois sport, or maybe burghers who just don't have a sense of what golf means to dedicated players?

Action Plan: If you could find a champion, and develop a plan both to increase golf traffic and financial sustainability, maybe you can save the course. If you could offer a reasoned alternative to shuttering the course, I think possibly the Lewisham council might listen. In this era of violent disagreements on public policy, I sense the council would be delighted to have someone offer conversation rather than consternation.

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Right here in St. Louis area, we have a similar problem looming with Normandie Golf Club. NGC...

• was designed by Robert Foulis, a protege of Old Tom Morris at St. Andrew's.
• is the oldest USA public course west of the Mississippi River.

The city of Normandy (spelled a bit differently) is mixed professional and blue-collar neighborhood with a significant minority population. NGC serves as the public "country club" for a lot of working-class people.

This is the second time in a decade someone has tried to buy the course. Circa 2005, a developer sought to buy NGC and turn it into a suburban housing tract. Between the protests of the local villages and the looming economic Recession, it never got off the ground.

Now, the University of Missouri - St. Louis (UMSL) is considering plans to buy the 113-acre course. NGC lays near the southwest corner of the campus  The UMSL top management team has said there are no immediate plans to shut the course, but locals are still unsettled.

Here's a web site dedicated to preserving the course:

https://www.change.org/p/university-of-missouri-board-of-curators-save-normandie-golf-course

JPJ,

Any update on what the council decided what to do with the Beckenham course?

In our area, the University of Missouri - St. Louis decided to buy Normandie GC. UMSL officials say it will continue as a golf course, but many locals are skeptical.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/umsl-completes-purchase-of-normandie-golf-course/article_53bf8309-35a0-5ef9-bdd8-43f3b1b2c9e5.html

Also, UMSL bought a former convent between Normandie GC and the edge of campus. The university was going to demolish the convent, but local protests got the building a reprieve.

http://www.newstribune.com/news/2015/jun/24/convent-edge-umsl-campus-gets-reprieve/

Going for a trifecta of upsetting their neighbors, UMSL officials blamed a drop in Fall 2014 enrollment on the unrest in nearby Ferguson, Enrollments are down all over the region - not sure the UMSL drop was caused by Ferguson.

On 6/30/2015 at 2:52 PM, WUTiger said:

JPJ,

 

Any update on what the council decided what to do with the Beckenham course?

 

In our area, the University of Missouri - St. Louis decided to buy Normandie GC. UMSL officials say it will continue as a golf course, but many locals are skeptical.

http://www.stltoday.com/news/local/education/umsl-completes-purchase-of-normandie-golf-course/article_53bf8309-35a0-5ef9-bdd8-43f3b1b2c9e5.html

 

Also, UMSL bought a former convent between Normandie GC and the edge of campus. The university was going to demolish the convent, but local protests got the building a reprieve.

http://www.newstribune.com/news/2015/jun/24/convent-edge-umsl-campus-gets-reprieve/

 

Going for a trifecta of upsetting their neighbors, UMSL officials blamed a drop in Fall 2014 enrollment on the unrest in nearby Ferguson, Enrollments are down all over the region - not sure the UMSL drop was caused by Ferguson.

Sorry for the silly-long delay in replying!

The course closed in October 2016. I've never been back to the park.

Our club (Braeside GC) survived after moving to Selsdon Golf Course and we're doing pretty well, except for the women's section which has dwindled badly. The other club (Beckenham GC) disappeared after moving/merging to somewhere else that wouldn't allow to retain their identity (I think they only had around 10 active members).