Midges stave off a prospective buyer at the Loch Lomond Golf Course – Golf updates
Of all the stories about haunted courses and possessed clubhouses, a swarm of midges at the Loch Lomond Golf Club proved to be the stealthiest of demons when they were able to successfully stave off a multi-million-pound deal to buy the celebrated Loch Lomond
Golf Course. The owner of the Wentworth course, Richard Caring, revealed that he has formally declined to buy the course after he was severely bitten by the insects during his visit to the course.
"Yes, I thought about it. And I went up there a couple of times. But, to be very honest with you - and this will sound ridiculous - when I was there in August I was bitten to death by the midges. It really put me off."
The scenic Loch Lomond Club, host to the former Barclay’s Scottish Open, has become notoriously famous for the menace of midges that swarm the surrounding areas and do not hesitate to attack the golfers who show up in the evenings for a round in the balmy
Scottish spring. The course has undergone a recent renovation after it was bought by its current owners in a lucrative deal worth £35 million earlier this year.
Caring, a business tycoon who started his business of selling clothing imported from Hong Kong in the West End of London, has become one of the richest people in the United Kingdom with an estimated wealth of £1.5 billion. Caring, after his phenomenal success
in the clothing business, went on to diversify his business interests in restaurants and nightclubs. He further moved into buying golf courses after he became a connoisseur of the sport. The 61-year-old businessman not only owns the Wentworth course but also
many of the high profile restaurants and nightclubs in London including The Ivy, Scott's, Le Caprice, Annabel's, Harry's Bar and members' club and Soho House.
Loch Lomond Club was previously owned by Lyle Anderson who eventually lost the course after he failed to re-negotiate his debt with the Bank of Scotland. The course is frequently visited by high ranking officials as well as celebrities like Sir Sean Connery
of James Bond fame. The first incident of midges attacking the golfers happened during the Scottish Open three years ago when Graeme McDowell had a terrible time trying to play a shot and fight the biting menace at the same time.
"I was being chewed up by midges and pulled the trigger a little too quick because I wanted to get off that tee. We were being bitten so badly I just lost my concentration." McDowell bogeyed the 17th hole. The course officials have installed several
bat boxes to control the midge’s population.
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