Post by neil6147 on Nov 24, 2006 2:09:53 GMT 10
A Borders golf club has celebrated its centenary - despite not having a course to play on.
Earlston's players have been homeless since the end of World War II and have now jokingly claimed rights to play on the Moon.
Efforts to re-establish a nine-hole facility on the edge of the village at Huntshaw have also failed.
Now the club, 100 years old this month, has people signing up for its lunar course, including US associate members.
Established in 1906, Earlston Golf Club currently has about 100 members paying its £3-a-year membership.
The players visit neighbouring clubs having lost the rights to play on the ground they used up until the 1940s.
The situation has prompted the club to come up with the idea of claiming playing rights on the Moon.
A course layout has even been drawn up with 18 lunar seas renamed with a Borders theme.
The club now boasts 70 "Moon course" players - including associate members in Canada and the US.
Popular idea
Club president Brian Thorburn said the idea started off as a joke at a committee meeting.
"There was a company selling plots of land on the Moon," he said.
"This was well-publicised and we decided to give it a bash.
"We now have our certificate with our quadrants on it which says we own a plot of land on the Moon."
The idea appears to have caught on amongst the Earlston members.
"We now have a card made up for our holes on the Moon," said Mr Thorburn.
"As soon as we can get ourselves up there and get some excavating done we will carry on building the course."
Earlston's players have been homeless since the end of World War II and have now jokingly claimed rights to play on the Moon.
Efforts to re-establish a nine-hole facility on the edge of the village at Huntshaw have also failed.
Now the club, 100 years old this month, has people signing up for its lunar course, including US associate members.
Established in 1906, Earlston Golf Club currently has about 100 members paying its £3-a-year membership.
The players visit neighbouring clubs having lost the rights to play on the ground they used up until the 1940s.
The situation has prompted the club to come up with the idea of claiming playing rights on the Moon.
A course layout has even been drawn up with 18 lunar seas renamed with a Borders theme.
The club now boasts 70 "Moon course" players - including associate members in Canada and the US.
Popular idea
Club president Brian Thorburn said the idea started off as a joke at a committee meeting.
"There was a company selling plots of land on the Moon," he said.
"This was well-publicised and we decided to give it a bash.
"We now have our certificate with our quadrants on it which says we own a plot of land on the Moon."
The idea appears to have caught on amongst the Earlston members.
"We now have a card made up for our holes on the Moon," said Mr Thorburn.
"As soon as we can get ourselves up there and get some excavating done we will carry on building the course."
