Fife Free Press Sports Editor MATTHEW ELDER finds out how Kirkcaldy's two golf club's have coped with the big freeze.

KIRKCALDY Golf Club has looked more like a scene from the Austrian Alps in recent weeks as the snow-covered course has been turned into a ski slope.

While frustrated golfers have been kept indoors by the big freeze, many locals have taken advantage of the course's steep slopes to have some winter fun.

Club captain Allan Elder told SportsPress: "We've had skiers, snowboarders and sledgers down here. They've been having a great time – but for golfers it's been dreadful.

"We're all having withdrawal symptoms and are desperate to play."

Like virtually every golf course in Fife, Kirkcaldy has been closed since the subzero temperatures hit prior to Christmas.

The ice is so thick at Balwearie that former ice hockey player Anthony Caira – now PGA professional at Kirkcaldy Golf Club – needed his old skates to get across the 18th green for our photoshoot on Tuesday.

"The bottom line is we've been closed for four weeks now simply because the course has been covered in snow," Allan added.

"Today (Monday) is the most green grass we've seen here since before Christmas.

"There's a chance of a thaw over the next couple of days, but it will still take time to get the course in condition for playing.

"I'm looking out the window now at the main 18th green and it's choc-a-block with snow and ice. It's the same on the winter green – so it's not playable.

"The course will remain closed until the greenkeeper feels it's in a playable condition. The plan is to get out by the weekend, but even then we're having to keep our fingers crossed."

While the weather has been a nightmare for the golfers, it has also had an impact on the club's finances, with income down significantly from the same period last year.

"We've not been taking any green fees, but on top of that we've not had a lot of visitors to the clubhouse," added Allan. "People are reluctant to come down in this weather.

"You get the odd regulars coming down for their coffee, but nowhere near what it would normally be. I've been in the pro-shop since 9 a.m this morning and I've not had a single customer (speaking at noon).
It's been the same for the past two or three weeks.

"It doesn't help that we're also busy trying to get members just now. People can't go out and play golf at the moment, so they are postponing their membership.

"We'll not be taking anywhere near the amount of money we normally do, so it will be having a fair impact on our weekly cash flow."

AS a Fife Council course, Dunnikier Park Golf Club does not rely on green fees to make ends meet, but it does rely on its golfers using the clubhouse facilities — whether the course is open or not.

Raymond Mann, Dunnikier Park secretary, said: "We had an excellent December in terms of attendances for our Christmas events, but January and February is very much a time where we expect to have significant dips in income.

"We are fully reliant on members making the use of facilities during this near five week closedown of golf."

Helping Dunnikier Park through the winter white-out is a number of social events planned in order to keep the clubhouse busy.

"We organise fortnightly Sunday kids afternoons, the kids come along to the golf club and play golf on the Wii on our big screen in the rear lounge," Raymond added. "These afternoons draw in large numbers of parents, which is great.

"Our professional has also organised indoor video lessons for our junior and adult members which has been well received.

"Our Saturday evening entertainment programme also restarts on January 23 and we are fully booked on Friday evenings in February, which helps greatly."