The club in Eastbourne raised over £15,000 through a Crowdfunder page, which unlocked a matching grant to fund a vital new water supply
Willingdon Golf Club in Eastbourne has raised more than £30,000 towards a borehole project.
Over 100 donations to a Crowdfunder have surpassed £15,000, unlocking a matching National Lottery grant of £15,000 from Sport England. The project will build a vital and sustainable water supply at the golf club, which was eligible through its Community Amateur Sports Club status (CASC).
“The club had previously explored the option of boreholes but decided to invest elsewhere,” said General Manager and GCMA Member Gary Brockwell.
“We pursued the costs again on going down the route of a borehole. It had gone up quite a bit since we first looked into it, but we were initially looking at a couple of donations or life memberships to cover the cost, and then I thought, let’s see if there are any grants available.
“I applied for the grant from Sport England, which was successful and helped to match-fund £15,000 for the project, and our members came up with £17,000 in the end from donations through the Crowdfunder site. We managed to fund the rest through some other donations.”
After Brockwell’s successful online application, the project will start in October and will cost between £50,000 and £55,000. The borehole will be in the area around the club’s car park, providing an alternative water source to maintain the condition of the course and to reduce the use of mains water. The work will take two to three weeks to complete.
July saw heatwave conditions across England and Wales, resulting in almost two weeks of temperatures above 25°C, and 30°C on occasion.
The month saw above-average temperatures and sunshine, and below-average rainfall for the UK. Conditions like this can cause a strain on water supplies both on golf courses and in residential areas.
“Initially, in a borehole, you’re allowed to withdraw 20 cubic metres a day without any abstraction licenses. In the peak of summer, we could be using anything from 80 to 100 cubic metres a day,” Brockwell said, who joined Willingdon last November.
“It will help financially, and once the borehole is up and running, they have a certain period of time where we monitor it and see how much it’s drawing out.
“If we’ve got a good flow rate, we can look at abstraction licenses to withdraw more on a daily basis.
“It’s something we can investigate, then potentially a second tank to become almost completely off mains. You’re basically withdrawing free water.
“Our water bill is going to be about £30,000 this year. We’re hoping for a decent saving on the borehole. When golf clubs are looking at £20,000 to £30,000 bills, when we don’t have any reservoirs or anything like that, it’s a lot of money.
“It’s not only financial savings, but also safeguarding the golf course,” he added. “For example, if the water companies said, ‘you can no longer use the water, you can no longer draw mains because we’re in a drought’, and golf clubs will probably be one of the first ones they switch off ahead of residential, 20 cubic metres will probably keep our greens alive through any period.
“England Golf – they do believe golf clubs will be one of the first ones targeted should any heavy restrictions be needed.”
The Met Office reported that Spring 2026 was the third warmest on record for the UK, with the warmest and driest weather in south-east England.
“A lot of golf clubs financially are under pressure. I’ve been seeing it in a lot of private golf clubs,” Brockwell said.
“A lot of golf clubs will be looking at any way they can save some money, and also how they can be more sustainable in the future, especially with the weather periods we’ve recently had.
“Golf courses have struggled because the fairways and areas of their golf course have dried up so much – and that’s going to take a long time to recover. Water supply is becoming far more of a focus.”
While some golfers might enjoy the dry look of brown golf courses, hot and dry weather can lead to rising water costs and increased pressure on supplies, which the members at Willingdon have contributed to address with the borehole project.
“The support has been fantastic, and everyone’s got behind the borehole. When they see the benefit that it has to the community, and the sustainability of the golf club, it’s a lot easier for them to get behind, and obviously they want the golf course to continue for the next 100 years.”
Key takeaways
- Borehole projects can deliver significant long-term savings for your golf club
- Water security is becoming a major issue for golf clubs when hot and dry conditions arrive
- Exploring different funding strategies can go a long way to making projects achievable
