Wentworth residents hit back with a vengeance

Wentworth Club’s owners had managed to make members angry with a proposed plan of disposing of the membership to the famous course, before charging a £100,000 re-joining fee.

Fortunately this plan has since dissipated, however another row now rages on.

Starting a war

The residents of the private estate, which the golf course resides on and of whom most are members, have started a war involving the staging of the Wentworth BMW PGA Championship. The event has been held there every year for the past 32 years, and is one of the major tournaments within the golfing calendar.

The row is possibly going to cause future tournaments to cease at Wentworth. Fear not however, as this year’s tournament is going ahead - and the organisers are adamant there is “zero chance” that the 2016 tournament will be cancelled. The BMW PGA Championship will still contribute as they do every year, a significant contribution to the local area, and help towards raising money for charity.

Residents living on the Virginia Water estate in Surrey want to see a soaring hike in fees charged for the tournament to take place at Wentworth, which is starting on the 26th May.

The European Tour, who arrange and conduct the tournament, pay £14,000 per year to use the land for the game. The residents part of the Wentworth Estate Roads Committee (WERC), who run the whole estate and represent all the residents via an act of parliament, are now requesting approximately £300,000 a year to host the tournament.

Cause of friction

WERC have made it very clear that the proposed plans of abolishing membership and instating a £100,000 re-joining fee had caused friction, and duly provoked this new wave of attack. The committee have also stated in the Telegraph that the annual payment from the European Tour is insufficient, especially with the inconvenience and strain it places on residents, nor does it appreciate the commercial value obtained by the European Tour from the use of the land.

WERC go on to say how negotiations have come to a standstill and lawyers have been drafted in. Bridges that need to be built to allow cabling for the broadcasting of the event, have also been affected, with WERC deploying security teams to prevent this construction from happening. This may throw the broadcasting of the event out of the water, and possibly cause the cancellation of two rock concerts planned for the evenings of the tournament.

The dispute continues

A spokesman for the European Tour told the Telegraph: “As we have stated in the past, this is a dispute between the Wentworth Estates Roads Committee and the Wentworth Club itself.

“The European Tour has looked to engage in constructive dialogue with the WERC over a number of months in an attempt to resolve matters but to no avail, as the WERC’s demands were extortionate and unreasonable.”

However, WERC vice chairman Tariq Rafique said: “It is a great shame that the European Tour has been unable to meet our concerns and put in place a reasonable arrangement which respects the rules and covenants governing the Estate.

“Frankly, the last thing the residents of Wentworth wanted was another public argument... We tried to initiate discussion in September and it is most regrettable that this matter was not addressed by the European Tour and the Club.”