KIRKSVILLE, MO -- U.S. golf clubs are in the rough when it comes to membership.  According to the National Golf Foundation, 2009 marked the fourth straight year of decline in memberships nationwide.  In 2009, an estimated 140 of the country’s 16,000 golf facilities closed while only 50 new courses opened.

“Yeah it’s definitely been struggling in nearly all of the reports I have got” said Kirksville Country Club Golf Professional Clint Fitzpatrick.  “There’s a lot of places that weren’t doing as well financially as they have been in the past.  We’ve been very fortunate to have a very stable membership and good core group of community members to support us.”

While the economy has played a big role in the decline, the Kirksville Country Club has been holding their own.

“We ran a membership promotion to try and get more members out here” said Fitzpatrick.  “We’re trying to initiate members to come out here and take pride in what we have out here and it worked very well.  We generated almost 60 new memberships out of the deal.”

Fitzpatrick said several Kirksville citizens even pay membership dues and do not use the facility because they believe it is important to have the country club in the community.