DOLGELLAU golfers are in a race against time to buy their club and stop it being turned into grazing land for animals.

Dolgellau Golf Club, which opened in 1910, has been on the market for the past 18 months and had its asking price slashed from £900,000 to £790,000.

The members of the nine-hole course are looking to buy the club, but if they fail to raise enough money by 1 April next year, it could be sold on the open market and closed as a golf club.

Owner, Richard Stockdale, informed the committee that he would honour the membership until 31 March 2017, but after that date annual membership would not be renewed – with fears the golf course may be turned over to use as grazing land.

The owner, who is a PGA professional, has been at the club for 13 years after buying the golf club and then building a new clubhouse with changing rooms, a bar and function room that can cater for parties of 120 people.

President of the club, David Clay, said he was concerned about the effect the course’s closure would have on the town.

He said: “It would be a great loss to the town. I have been speaking to community leaders in Dolgellau and losing the golf club would have a detrimental effect on local facilities and the local economy.

“Once a sports facility is lost to the a small, rural community, it is never replaced. To lose an iconic Dolgellau fixture would be a great tragedy."

Read the full story in this week’s Meirionnydd edition of the Cambrian News