A GOLF Club celebrating being ‘saved’ will have to shut for 12-months but will re-open with a new club that will have a ‘zero carbon footprint’.

Earlier this year, members of Rhyl Golf Club felt battened down and said the Awel y Môr Offshore Wind Farm project posed as a “real threat” to their existence.

Two options were on the table.

Plan A which involved placing two transition jointing boxes of two 20 metre by five metre concrete slabs in the middle of the golf course - across the forth, fifth and sixth fairways. Members said this would cause “constant disruption”. and access rights with it being a National Significant Infrastructure Project.

Plan B was similar but jointing boxes would be placed half-a-mile inland of the other side of Lyons Robin Hood Holiday Park and railway line by Dyserth bends.

Mike Pritchard, marketing officer at Rhyl Golf Club, said at the time that if Plan A went ahead “the course would be unplayable” and he saw “no viable future”.

Now the future is looking much brighter.

Mr Pritchard said: “Recent negotiations have been positive and, as a result, we will be restructuring and redeveloping both the course and clubhouse to fit within the Sea Defence programme. When we resurface, we aim to be the first carbon neutral golf club in Wales (if not the UK).”

Mike added: “Through the Journal’s support and the wider community backing, we have good news to say that ‘people power’ has saved our Rhyl Golf Club. The two big challenges, Sea Defence programme and Awel Y Mor windfarm construction have both been ‘managed’ to allow us to keep Rhyl’s only golf course alive for the foreseeable future.

“We have the opportunity to build a new club that will have a zero carbon footprint. We will be leading the way in Wales and possibly the UK, with the first self-sufficient energy and water programme for any golf club.

“We want to Rhyl to be on the map as a first and an ambassador for climate change.

“Not only will we be using solar for light/electric but geo thermal for heating and rain water harvesting plus bore holes for water.

“We want to give back to Rhyl where we can plus we will be the first sports venue to have onsite electric car charging facilities.

“The new clubhouse will be 21st Century plus.”

The 12-month closure will happen from April 1 2023. The club will reopen with the newly shaped course and new clubhouse on April 1 2024.

Asked where players will go during the closure, Mike said: “We have offered a range of options; Some will play other courses - discussions will be under way in time, some will take time off and may just play casual golf. Others will form golf societies and travel or explore new or different challenging courses.

"The membership response at our EGM was very positively received and all are embracing the opportunity. The unanimous view was this bump in the road is worth what they will come back to."

Mike said the chance to create the ‘first carbon neutral golf club in Wales’ was a "no brainer".

“Phoenixing from the ashes of the old club that relies of the vagaries of the energy industry where costs and supply fluctuates beyond our control,” Mike commented.

“We don’t want to lose the heritage but, we need to build a club for the current and next generation of golfers. This gives us a chance to educate those who want to be part of the green revolution but need to know more and support the fight against climate change and I am 100 per cent supportive of creating a sustainable planet for those that come next.

"We have a duty of care to reduce harmful emissions and have self-sustainability. We will do this by having solar for light and energy, geothermal for heating and rainwater harvesting and bore holes for our water needs. We will move away from using fossil fuels to run the new clubhouse.

"We want to give back to the community and will hopefully be a net contributor of electricity too.

"My plan is to be the first golf club in the region to support electric car charging and our design and plans will be to create the 'future state of golf'.

"We are currently in the process of looking for architects to enable our design vision and then we can prepare the ground for additional grant support and for those across the energy industry who want to be part of, supporting, this exciting future programme."