TRUSTEES of the Government golf courses have decided to suspend membership at the St. George's Golf Club for the coming year, leaving some members feeling shut out.

And now the club's former general manager Kim Swan is raising questions about whether the course will remain a public facility.

Sen. Swan's remarks follow an announcement last month by Transport and Tourism Minister Ewart Brown that St. George's would be completely redeveloped into a championship course as part of the redevelopment of the former Club Med site by a US developer.

Dr. Brown said yesterday that the current plan was for the new hotel to manage the new course, which would still be open to the public.

The back nine holes are scheduled to be closed for ten to 12 weeks from next month while the greens are planted with grass that is resistant to sea water.

But even though that work should be completed by the end of June at the latest, the trustees have announced they will suspending 2006/07 membership.

The move has annoyed some members, who say the decision was made without consultation with them. Their current annual membership expires at the end of this month.

St. George's member Glenn Tucker, Sr. said management "did not seem to know what it was doing".

Last year, the club's management had intended to keep nine holes open throughout a course upgrade, by completing work on the front nine holes between May and August, before dealing with the back nine over the following three months.

But after closing down holes one through nine from May, management then ended up closing down the entire course for two months from August, after a second delivery of seawater-resistant paspalum grass failed to arrive from Georgia-based suppliers Rapid Turf of America.

Mr. Tucker, 62, said: "Last year they accepted our membership fees, which had to be paid by the end of March, and only told us at the start of April that parts of the course would be closed.

"This time they have said that nine holes will be closed down for three months but, without talking to us, they have decided they will not take our membership fees.

"Wouldn't it have been easier to talk about it with us first? If this were a private company they would not have made a decision like this.

"They have a duty to ensure they maximise the potential of the course to make money. This is public money."

Mr. Tucker paid a $550 over-60s membership fee last year. Under-60s paid $1,200. He suggested a nine-month membership fee from the end of June could have solved the problem with the minimum of fuss.

In November last year, Mr. Tucker wrote to Auditor General Larry Dennis to highlight the problems encountered during the revamp of the course and he suggested "the planning was inadequate or there was no planning".

The membership suspension was revealed in a letter to club president Lionel Paynter from club manager Max Atherden, dated January 31 this year.

Mr. Atherden describes the partial closure of the course last year and adds: "Although we tried to accommodate the membership with reduced golf cart fees while we only had nine holes open and and free membership and at Ocean View and Port Royal when all 18 were closed some of the membership were still disgruntled."

The plan to close the back nine for up to 12 weeks to plant paspalum grass is explained. And the letter goes on: "The trustees have decided to suspend membership for the year 2006/07 and will review the situation for the following year when all work is complete on the course.

"The club is still welcome to function and to have its schedule of tournaments and we will be happy negotiate a special rate which the club members will pay each time they choose to play."

Mr. Tucker said: "I live in St. George's and it's nice for me to play here two or three times a week. I shouldn't have to go all the way to Port Royal or Ocean View."

Sen. Swan said the public was being kept in the dark over the plans for the course, since Dr. Brown announced last month it would be completely remodelled in connection with the new hotel development.

"If the plan is to give the course away, then this is a back-door way of facilitating the deal," Sen. Swan said. "People fought for the right to have a public golf facility in this community. It's served its purpose as a facility for the sporting public and for tourists alike. Sport is a great social equaliser. I will not sit by and watch while public golf at St. George's is put in jeopardy without any public discussion.

"This is a Government that deflects accountability. We've seen one sweetheart deal with Coco Reef. We don't want to see another one.

"We have a public golf facility at St. George's on nearly 80 acres of Government land and it's about to go into the unknown. People deserve to know what is going on in their community."

Asked yesterday about the course's future, Dr. Brown said: "The course is scheduled to become a championship course that will be under hotel management but open to the public.

"That is not final but was the plan under the former developer."Sen. Swan said the trustees' decision to suspend membership "speaks of victimisation", because members had displayed disgruntlement over their treatment in 2005.

"A lot of revenue, in cart fees and green fees, has already been lost through the club being closed for so much time. And if KJA (the new developers of the former Club Med site) are going to redevelop it into a championship course, then why are we spending more money on the course now?"

Tee boxes and greens on the front nine have already been replanted with seashore paspalum, which is resistant to salt water. Ocean spray had killed some of the grass on the greens closest to the coast ? a problem that it is hoped the paspalum will solve.