Elected Member Briefing Note 2025, No. 134
About this Briefing Note
Report by: Andy Clegg, Community Greenspace Manager; Susan Whyte, Community Greenspace Team Leader (Communities); Niall McGill, Golf Course Officer
EMBN Number: 134-25
Date: 10 October 2025
Subject: North Inch Golf Course Update
Responsible Officer: Susan Whyte, Community Greenspace Team Leader (Communities)
Details
Purpose
This briefing note updates members on the progress at North Inch Golf Course, in line with the North Inch Golf Course Business Plan 2022-2027.
Briefing Information
This briefing note updates members on the progress at North Inch Golf Course, in line with the North Inch Golf Course Business Plan 2022-2027.
North Inch Golf Course is a public municipal golf course owned and operated by Perth and Kinross Council. The golf course is a community facility and is offered as an accessible and affordable way of playing golf and encouraging a healthy lifestyle.
The North Inch Golf Course aims to deliver an improving facility that reflects the demands of all golf course users while providing Best Value to the Council.
The initial 6-year business plan was implemented in 2016, running through until end of the financial year 2021/22. At the start of the plan North Inch Golf Course was performing poorly and was requiring an ever-increasing annual subsidy from the Council to cover costs. The condition of the golf had deteriorated and as a result usage numbers and revenue had dropped consistently over the previous decade and the future of the golf course was uncertain.
The initial business plan was designed to transform the golf course business model by improving golf course conditions, whilst growing usage and revenue, resulting in a reducing subsidy. In April 2018 the maintenance of the golf course was brought back in house from an external contractor and this created more capacity and flexibility on the works that could be carried out.
During the time of the 2016-2022 business plan, the following performance indicators were achieved:
Season ticket income increased from £26.2k to £106.5k
Daily green fee income increased from £15.9k to £57.8k
Total income increased from £42.2k to £174.3k
Number of Season ticket holders increased from 175 to 444
Required subsidy reduced from £167.5k to £62k
The current five-year business plan covering the period 2022 to 2027 primarily focuses on retaining and strengthening the relationship with existing users, ensuring the golf course conditions continue to improve, whilst remaining affordable, accessible and enjoyable to play, providing best value to all users and the council.
Reputationally, the golf course has turned around what was once a negative local perception to now one of being a very good public golf course.
It also works to attract new customers by raising awareness of the North Inch Golf Course within the local catchment area and wider market, as well as targeting the Perthshire visitor market through online digital marketing.
Since the Covid pandemic golf has benefited from more people looking to get outdoors and live a healthy lifestyle. At North Inch we have tried to capitalise on this and continue to see further growth each year in participation numbers. As a low impact sport, golf is one of very few that can be played by all ages, abilities and is a great family sport.
Junior golf has been a major focus at North Inch and in 2022 we launched North Inch Junior Golf Club, which we believe to be the only standalone junior golf club in Scotland. The junior golf club is affiliated to Scottish Golf, the sports national governing body and provides a pathway for young golfers to progress through the sport and achieve a handicap and start playing competitive golf. We now boast 229 junior season ticket holders, which we believe to be the largest number of junior golfers at any golf course in the Perth and Kinross area. The majority of our junior season ticket holders enjoy playing social golf with friends and around 75 have joined the junior golf club to engage in the club activities.
In 2022, a new starter's box facility was installed at the golf course. This great new facility has made a huge difference to the customer experience and is complete with welfare facilities and a seating area for golfers to enjoy a tea/coffee or cold drink before and after play. The facility was funded through a combination of a VAT refund the Council received from HRMC for historic golf fees, grant funding and wider Greenspace budget.
Our 'Golf Memories' group turned 10 years old in March this year and continues to be a popular weekly event for all of our participants and volunteers. The project offers people living with dementia and other age-related conditions the opportunity to re-connect with the sport through hitting a ball again on the driving range or accessible putting course as well as a chance to make new friends and reminisce over a cup of tea or coffee after each session. Golf Memories is a cross-team project between North Inch Golf Course and the Council's Equalities team and is sponsored and hosted by local business Noah's Ark Golf Centre, allowing the sessions to be free of charge to all participants.
In May 2025 working alongside our Community Greenspace colleagues and a volunteer group from UHI Perth, we prepared the ground and sowed a 160m area of Wildflower seed within one of the Grow Wild areas of our FootGolf course and alongside the public footpath surrounding North Inch Park. This has been a great success and something that we plan to create more of in 2026.
Hitting/storage cages improvements
The hitting/storage cages at the golf course are currently in quite a poor state, and we are looking to improve the presentation of these and also add some extra storage to help us with our growing junior golf section equipment and club hire scheme, as follows:
Site a small 5ft x 7ft mini storage container to south side of cages.
Timber clad the rear of the cages including the rear and side of the container.
Replace the damaged signage that was on rear of cages and fix new signage to timber cladding.
Create some new wildflower / pollinator areas around the cages and golf starters box to add some colour and biodiversity.
All works would be carried out 'in house' and from the existing golf course budget.
In the first three completed years of the 2022 to 2027 business plan (to end March 2025), the following performance indicators have been achieved:
Season ticket income increased from £106.5k to £120k
Daily green fee income increased from £57.8 to £73k
Total income increased from £174.3k to £218k
Number of Season ticket holders increased from 444 to 703
Required subsidy reduced from £62k to £55k
The North Inch Golf Course is an asset the Council and city can be rightly proud of, as are the dedicated staff, partners and volunteers who make it such a success.
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