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Members of Wimbledon Park Golf Club, who include Piers Morgan and Ant & Dec, are set to pocket £85,000 each after it was sold to the All England Lawn Tennis Club (AELTC) for £65 million.
At a vote yesterday, 82% of the London club’s 750-plus membership voted in favour of selling the 73-acre site to the world famous Wimbledon tennis championship. A majority of 75% was needed to force through the sale.
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Morgan, a member at Wimbledon Park for more than 30 years, described its sale as ‘very sad’ when he was made aware of the result.
Very sad news.
— Piers Morgan (@piersmorgan) December 13, 2018
Played there for over 30yrs & voted against the sale.
Hope the superb pro-shop team get properly looked after. https://t.co/Et4ATm5eMl
The AELTC has long sought the land in order to expand its facilities to match its Grand Slam competitors in the US, Australia and France.
It first approached the club with a takeover proposal in 2008 but it was rejected by the club’s board without discussion. The tennis club came back with a £25m offer in 2015, but that bid was rejected by 58% of members.
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This spring the tennis club upped the stakes to £50m before making its ‘final’ £65m bid, which was accepted.
Philip Brook, chairman of the AELTC, said: “The decision of the Wimbledon Park Golf Club members to vote in favour of the acquisition offer is a hugely significant moment for the AELTC and the Championships. We have achieved what we set out to do many months ago in having certainty in our planning for the future.”
The course’s 18 holes are set to remain open for a further three years, with nine or ten-hole golf set to continue until at least December 31, 2022.
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