In short
- Course
- Marland, Rochdale (par 67)
- Taken on
- April 2019, by Marland Golf C.I.C.
- Before
- Losing around £200,000 a year, facing closure
- Since
- Open every season
Marland is a council golf course in Rochdale. In 2019 it was losing around £200,000 a year and facing closure.
Andrew Terry learned to play there with his dad. Joe Jackson played there with his grandad. When the council course was due to shut, the two of them stepped in, and Marland Golf C.I.C. took it on in April 2019.
What changed in the first year
The course stayed open, and it has been open every season since. Within months it was sustainable, and the money it earned went back into the course instead of out of it.
That is the whole idea, and it has not changed. The course is the product. Marland is a short, par 67 layout with small greens, so it suits a quick round and newer golfers. Andrew describes it as "parkland to its bones", which is why the work there has always been about the parkland basics: good greens, good drainage, a course that is dry enough to play.
Why Marland matters to the other six courses
Marland was the first proof that a public course can be run well enough to pay its own way and still stay public. Heaton Park followed in 2020, and Link Golf UK now runs seven courses. None has closed.
As Andrew puts it: "We set the business up in 2019 for one reason, which was to stop the unnecessary closure of golf clubs."
Play Marland
Tee times, the Annual Pass and society bookings are on the Marland page. If you want the longer version of how it started, read our story.