Why some top golf clubs struggle to turn a profit
Why some top golf clubs struggle to turn a profit
Kristy Dorsey, Special for GolfweekWed, August 12, 2026 at 1:01 PM UTC
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Loch Lomond Golf Club’s latest accounts offer a useful reminder that, in golf, prestige and profitability are not the same thing.
Turnover for the Scottish course rose 11% to nearly $20 million in 2025, with higher member use and price increases across accommodation, retail and golf. Earnings edged up to $2 million, yet the club still recorded a $3.5 million loss after tax, widened by depreciation and underlying cost pressures including wages, national insurance and utilities.
That gap continues to be bridged by its ownership structure. In 2025, the parent company waived $22.5 million of debt, effectively recapitalizing the business and allowing directors to sign off the accounts on a going-concern basis.
This is a club with strong demand, rising revenues and a full membership — yet one that still depends on deep-pocketed backing to sustain itself.
It is not an isolated case so much as an extreme expression of a wider truth: in Scottish golf, value increasingly sits around the course rather than within it. Nowhere is that clearer than in the property market.
New analysis by HomeBench shows East Lothian has overtaken St. Andrews and the wider Fife market for high-end golf home sales. There were 91 transactions above $675,000 in East Lothian in 2025, compared with 68 in St Andrews and Elie & Earlsferry, a shift that has continued into 2026.
Archerfield now leads Scotland on price, with average values close to $2.1 million, while Gullane and Elie have also moved beyond the $1.25 million mark. St. Andrews, by contrast, sits just below that level.
The implication is not that St. Andrews has diminished, but that demand is spreading — and that proximity to tournament venues, modern resort infrastructure and lifestyle offerings is reshaping where capital flows. The Genesis Scottish Open underlines that shift.
This year’s event drew a record 91,128 spectators, up from 88,735 in 2025, with strong daily attendances despite disruption from haar on the Saturday. As a co-sanctioned event between the PGA Tour and DP World Tour, it continues to deliver consistent exposure to a U.S. audience.
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That matters because the capital following that audience is already visible.
According to Thorntons, North American involvement in Scottish golf investment has increased noticeably across the past two years. From Cabot’s expansion in the Highlands to investment at Carnoustie and development at Feddinch, overseas buyers are targeting assets that combine golf with accommodation, property and multiple revenue streams.
The model is clear. Pure golf operations, even at the high end, can struggle to generate sustainable returns on their own. Wrap them in real estate, hospitality and destination appeal, and the economics begin to look very different.
That helps explain an apparent contradiction at the heart of the sector.
On one side sit globally recognized venues attracting record crowds, rising property values and sustained international investment. On the other are operating businesses managing tight margins, rising costs and, in some cases, structural dependence on external support.
Scottish golf is not short of demand. It is not short of capital. But those two forces are not always landing in the same place.
Loch Lomond shows what it takes to maintain a top-tier private club. East Lothian shows where buyers now see lifestyle value. The Scottish Open shows how that story is being sold to the world.
The question is whether the underlying business of running a golf club is keeping pace with the value being created around it — or quietly falling behind.
This article originally appeared on Golfweek: Why some top golf clubs struggle to turn a profit
Source: “AOL Money”
