IN response to the concerned senior member of Blackwell Golf Club (Echo, Oct 22) regarding the proposed merger of Blackwell with Stressholme, in Darlington, maybe the time has come for members of Stressholme to be given a little more respect and consideration in this matter.

This person refers to a “gamble” on behalf of Blackwell.

This may be the wrong way round.

Blackwell has lost, by its own admission, 47 per cent of members since 2008. If Blackwell is in this sort of trouble how does that qualify it to run Stressholme? Why can’t Darlington council just wait for the business to go bust to get its land back to sell? Is it anything to do with who on the council are also members of Blackwell?

As tax payers, should we also ask why Blackwell is being offered Stressholme for £500,000 when its market value is £750,000?

As for encouraging Stressholme members to join Blackwell, why would they? Most joined Stressholme exactly because it wasn’t Blackwell and it wasn’t run like Blackwell with its inherent snobbery, numerous committees and the inevitable cliques. Stressholme is friendly, informal and classless. The members don’t all wear football shirts and jeans.

Stressholme has a young and vibrant membership which is growing. It runs tri-golf for kids and offers get-into-golf starter lessons open to everyone (even those wearing jeans).

It is not stuck in the old fashioned time warp which is killing off the stereotypical private member-only clubs, exactly like Blackwell.

Other than the locker rooms, the facilities at Stressholme are as good as, if not better, than those at Blackwell (do these people all wear rose tinted specs when it comes to their golf club?).

Does Blackwell even have a driving range? How many days has Blackwell lost to weather closure compared to Stressholme? Does it have a chipping/bunker practice area?

Stressholme is far from perfect, due to the council losing interest in its rush to sell it off, but it has a good reputation and is a busy facility open to everyone.

Since this proposal was announced there has been absolutely no consideration for the members of Stressholme. We have been portrayed as povertystricken plebs who can’t afford to play at a “proper” golf club with “proper” golf gear.

In a recent Blackwell captain’s newsletter, we were even referred to as being from a different culture.

Who do these people think they are?

Hacked off (Pun Intended) member of Stressholme Golf Club.