Long standing members each offered up to £100,000 for the ground
Members of Wimbledon Park Golf Club have reportedly been offered up to £100,000 each from the All England Lawn Tennis Club - which hosts the world famous annual Wimbledon tennis tournament - to let them expand onto their ground.
The golfers are said to have been offered £50m to end their lease imminently rather than letting it run until the 2041 expiry date.
The All England Club's offer would mean that golfers with at least 10 years' membership would share the lump sum - entitling each to a payout of up to £100,000.
The All England Club made a similar offer two years ago to the 800 members of the 119-year-old club in Home Park Road resulting in the committee rejecting the offer, and now the All England Club has renewed its bid for the land.
The All England Club bought the freehold of the golf course from Merton Council for £5.2m in 1993 and the golf club brought in a rule that new members would have to wait ten years before becoming eligible for any payout from the tennis club.
The land would allow the All England Tennis Club to build new grass courts so that qualifying rounds now taking place at Roehampton could take place in Wimbledon. It would also allow an increase in the daily capacity of 40,000 spectators.
April 23, 2018