Ardgowan Club

Club Membership

The Membership limit in 1960 was 230 male members (no ladies) and there were no less than 180 on the waiting list.

Some had been on this list for as long as eight years awaiting a vacancy.

Mainly as a method of increasing income it was agreed to raise the membership level to 250.

In 1970 it was announced at the A.G.M. 'that the club had been running at a loss for some years. There were two solutions to the problem;

Increase the membership yet again
Increase the subscription

The motion to increase the membership from 250 to 280 was defeated and the subscription had, therefor , to be increased.

By 1972 the waiting list had virtually disapeared.

The annual membership of the club since 1975 varied between 240 & 225 for many years but by the mid-1990's it started to fall at an alarming rate. This drop in the interest in bowling was not unique to Ardgowan - other clubs, both locally and nationally, were experiencing the same downturn. By 2001, the male ordinary membership of Ardgowan Club had fallen to 160 or therby.

In 1997, Robert Currie, who at this time was Senior Vice-President, established a 'Way Ahead Committee', Its role was to consider all aspects of the life of the Club and bring forward proposals for its future development. Membership of the Committee was a blend of older and younger members and a wide range of suggestions was made. Some of these had come to fruition by 2001 e.g. open membership of bowling and tennis, a new committee structure, provision of a changing room for ladies and multi-purpose room, while others await development when the time is ripe e.g. an extension to the Clubhouse.