BANKROLLED by multimillionaire businessman Steve Gibson, the region's newest golf course at Rockliffe, near Darlington, cost £60m to build and gives the impression that the North East golf industry is in fine shape.

But talk to any member of the region's 95 clubs and a different picture emerges. There may well be more people playing golf than ever before – 1.5 million in England – but the way people organise their playing arrangements has changed markedly in the last decade.

The days of spending three years on a waiting list, stumping up a £500 joining fee and then paying an annual subscription of the same amount, are long gone.

Most clubs have seen membership numbers dwindle as the era of the nomadic golfer has come hurtling down the fairway.

Why, some may argue, stump up all that membership money when you may only play 10 times a year? Far better to pay £15 a round when you fancy the occasional knock with your mates.

As a result, the guessing game in the North East golfing world for the last few years has been which course will be the first to go under.

In 2010, it seemed like it might be Alnwick, until it was rescued last October by multimillionaire London businessman Simon Kimble.

Kimble is chief executive of Clarion Events and has grown the business from a £15m turnover in 2004 to £80m turnover today.

He is one of the leading names in the exhibitions industry and has launched over 20 events, including the BBC Good Food Show.

Kimble, the new owner of Alnwick Golf Club, said: “I love the region. In my forces days I was stationed at RAF Boulmer for a while.

“I’m from Middlesbrough myself and my wife comes from East Lothian, so we know the region well.

“The opportunity to develop a strong visitor-led golf market in the North East is immense, what with all the beaches and the castles and Newcastle being such a vibrant city – it’s a fantastic opportunity.”

“You look at a club like Alnwick, over the years it has cut, cut, cut and it got to the point where they just could not cut anymore.

“The green-keeping equipment gets worse, they have less staff and the course gets worse, they lose their professional, they cut the food in the clubhouse and, in the end, it becomes a vicious circle, one from which the club is unable to escape, and one which will eventually take the cub down.”

“I liked Alnwick from the moment I went to the course, it is in a great tourist location, has great potential and had a loyal and hard-working group of people to keep it going.”

At Consett Golf Club, the committee, like many of its peers, is looking at alternative funding streams to make up the shortfall from membership and green fees.

A meeting of its members recently gave the committee the go-ahead to look at putting together a planning application for the construction of a wind turbine.

Secretary Vince Kelly said: “We have had to make cuts in recent years to try and balance the books. The wind turbine plan may eventually help us generate a profit for the club.

“If it comes to fruition, we will look at using some of the money to launch community initiatives to encourage more people to take up golf.”

The club says the turbine will cost around £600,000 to install, and will generate revenues of over £100,000 a year, with the aim of clearing the debt within a 10-year period.

Hexham Golf Club is one of the few left in the region which still levies a joining fee, in its case £450.

It has seen membership hold up, with 500 male members, 130 female and 100 juniors.

Secretary/manager Dawn Waugh said: “We are aware of how difficult it is for some clubs and it is a challenge every year for us to keep the numbers up.”

Kimble, a keen golfer, said he first became involved in the golf business scene with the launch of Gemini Media in 2006 in conjunction with Jane Carter, who had been publisher and editor of Golf Monthly magazine.

It was created to help golf clubs combat declining revenues as a result of declining memberships

Gemini Media developed the Golf Club Network, which provides practical support and marketing advice to golf clubs to help them boost their profile and attract members and visitors.

Kimble continues: “What we have seen over the last 10 years or so is more and more people moving away from traditional club membership.

“What we have witnessed is the rise of the nomadic golfer.

“More and more people are going to pay and play courses where they play 10 or so times a year, and this has had the knock-on effect of seeing membership decline. And, as memberships decline, then clubs have less guaranteed incomes.

“The Golf Club Network helps clubs look at new things such as taking tea-time bookings, and try and help them run their affairs in a more professional manner.

“Certain golf clubs were, and still are, starting to struggle – we were trying to get them to manage their affairs in a more professional way.

“Last year, I decided to put my money where my mouth is and go in at the deep end.”