Spread the word:
Letham Grange Hotel and golf courses are ready and waiting for your business

By COLIN FARQUHARSON

It was once described as the Augusta National of Scotland. Now it’s the golf hotel and two very good golf courses that only the members know are still functioning.
The bad news about Letham Grange Hotel Golf Resort is that the long drawn-out liquidation process could drag on for another two years yet.
The good news is that three venture capitalists are pumping money into the set-up.
Ian Lumsden and his partners, who have already bought £100,000 of machinery for head greenkeeper Gary Tough, have big plans ready to roll the day that the hotel and the golf courses are finally prised out of the grasp of the previous owner, Dong-Guang (Peter) Liu.
So, as I say, not everybody in golfing circles is aware that the Letham Grange Hotel and the two golf courses are open for business – and have been so since Fraser Gemmell was appointed general manager the day after Lord Carloway at the Court of Session found in favour of liquidator Matt Henderson.

Fraser Gemmell, General Manager, speaks to ScottishGolfView

Fraser Gemmell takes up the story:
“I was brought in to oversee the running of everything. The liquidation process has proved somewhat difficult in as much as Mr Liu contested the initial liquidation. He was granted leave to appeal but the Court of Session in Edinburgh found strongly in favour of the liquidator.

APPEAL TO HOUSE OF LORDS
“Mr Liu then appealed to the House of Lords. All of this takes a long, long time as you could imagine and, in fact, the appeal was only considered by the House of Lords at the beginning of April this year.
“In October 2004, the liquidators decided they would have to close the Letham Grange operation which I had kept going – the hotel, the two golf courses, etc – from the day I arrived.
“Obviously, under the circumstances, it has not been easy to make the thing work properly. The liquidators came to the decision they could no longer afford to continue the operation,
“At that stage, a group of businessmen came on the scene, the principal name being Ian Lumsden. He has a couple of partners. They are all venture capitalists and they have other business interests. Ian is from Lumsden, one of the other guys is from Glasgow and the third one from Coventry.
“Their forte is that if they see something going down, which they could turn around and obviously make money out of it – that’s what they do, which is fair enough.”
Mr Lumsden and partners had a meeting with Fraser Gemmell in October 2004 and after discussion it was agreed to continue to operate the Letham Grange set-up. The hotel operation closed for a spell at that time but the golf courses remained opened through the winter months.
“Ian Lumsden and his partners have actually invested heavily in new machinery for Gary Tough, the head greenkeeper. The deal they have with the liquidator is that they have agreed to fund the ongoing situation and you can imagine there is a considerable cost in that,” said Mr Gemmell.

£100,000 OF NEW MACHINERY
“And they have the option to purchase when the liquidator has the title to sell. Ian and his partners have, since October 2004, paid everything for the upkeep of the hotel and the golf course, investing, as I said, heavily in new machinery for Gary Tough, well over £100,000 worth.
“So they have indicated their intent and we have seen a substantial increase in the golf club membership, over 100 in the last year.
“The condition of the golf courses is as good as it has ever been. The golf club members will confirm that.
“There was always a scenario that the initial liquidation was granted on a summary judgment. In other words, the sheriff listened to what the liquidator had to say and found in his favour.
“Mr Liu’s position is that he felt he should have been allowed to have his day in court to state his case. It probably all boils down to that and the Law Lords have agreed.
“Which means that we will have to go back to the start and it could be another two years before it is all resolved.
“It’s a great pity that we are being stopped from going full steam ahead with the Letham Grange operation. There are serious plans for the whole development by Mr Lumsden and his partners.
“They have had very good hearings with the local powers-that-be. A huge volume of money is waiting to be spent not only on the hotel and the golf courses but on quality Timeshare.
“A huge employment in the tourism side would be guaranteed.”
Despite the negative publicity that all the liquidation wrangles over the past few years, Fraser Gemmell reports that there is no shortage of people wanting to play over the Old Course and the No 2 circuit, The Glens.
“We have a very busy summer coming up with a huge amount of bookings for visiting parties. A lot of them are coming back from last year, which speaks volumes for what Letham Grange has to offer,” said Mr Gemmell.
“The Letham Grange Old Course is as good if not better than a lot of the big-name inland courses. I am determined to see it through. Golf is my passion and this has the potential to be a great golfing set-up.