DESPITE a national downturn in the sport's popularity, golf clubs in the Bradford district say they are fighting back against dwindling memberships.

Clubs report that changes in people's lifestyles, the time it takes to complete a round of golf and its cost have also contributed to them struggling to attract new members.

And the sport appears to be falling out of favour with youngsters who prefer playing it on computer games rather than the fairways.

Earlier this week the Telegraph & Argus reported that Riddlesden Golf Club is to close later this month after almost 90 years of existence.

The Bradford Union of Golf has admitted it has suffered an overall decline in membership at its member clubs but maintained the sport's popularity is cyclical and that clubs are working hard to attract new players.

The Bradford Golf Union has 26 clubs from across the district, including Shipley, Bradford Moor and West Bradford.

Among ways clubs are trying to attract more players are by are offering pay as you play rates and online price reduction schemes.

Bradford Golf Union president Terry Collins said: "Golf has been through a turbulent and uncertain period of time resulting in a general decline in club memberships.

"In response to this, clubs have had to become more creative in providing numerous golfing packages in the hope of attracting new members to their clubs.

"Many clubs can now finally see a light at the end of the tunnel."

Riddlesden, founded in 1927, will close the 18-hole Howden Rough course on January 31, blaming falling membership numbers and increasing expenditure.

Club secretary John Dickinson, 66, said: "We have about 114 members at the club now, this is 50 per cent less than three-and-a-half years ago.

"It takes about four hours to play a full round of golf, then you have the cost of the clubs and subs.

"We have a diminishing membership and we've not been able to replace them.

"It's a very sad state of affairs but things just couldn't go on as they were."

Attracting the next generation of players to the fairways is Bradford Golf Union's next priority with many of its members now aged over 60.

David Peat, Bradford Union's competition and alliance secretary, said players were also not as loyal to the one golf club now as they might have been in past years.

He said: "I think overall the membership numbers have gone down. I don't know the exact numbers.

"I don't want to see any clubs go. I'm surprised that no more have gone.

"Golf is not a cheap sport. It's a lot of money. It can cost between £700 to £800 a year to be a member. You have to play a lot of golf to get your money back. You've got to be playing at least twice a week.

"You have to run golf clubs as businesses now. It's extremely difficult.

"There is no loyalty these days, people are upping sticks and leaving clubs. Some are going elsewhere."

Despite Riddlesden being the only club in the Bradford Union to close, Silsden came perilously close to not making the cut in 2014.

The club based in Brunthwaite Lane was saved from closure after members voted unanimously to clear £500,000 of debt, which included selling all of its assets and then leasing back 60 acres of greens from the new owner.

In April last year the club turned its National Lottery-funded clubhouse into a luxury bungalow to secure its future. Since then, club officials have been working on securing its future.

In 2014 it had a membership of 120, which has now increased to 180.

Martyn Twigg, club chairman for the last ten years, said: "We did come close to closing in 2014.

"Since then we have just tried to maintain subscriptions at an affordable levels. It does not always work, but we believe it is worth taking the gamble.

"These things go in cycles, like any sport golf is going through that. It is in peaks and troughs."

Meanwhile, Shipley Golf Club, Beckfoot Lane, has sold a half hectare plot of spare land to a Leeds-based developer to build ten homes.

The scheme was granted planning permission in December last year. The money made by the move will help develop the club and course.

Anthony McMillan, 63, of East Morton, who pays £995 per year to play at Shipley Golf Club, said people's lifestyles mean they cannot afford the time to complete a full 18-hole round as much.

He said: "People have busy lives. You have to have a day off work to fit it in.

"Clubs should offer more so other members of the family can enjoy their recreational time there."

Club membership in England dropped 20 per cent between 2004 and 2013, from 882,184 to 707,424, according to England Golf, the amateur game's governing body.

England Golf's Golf Club Membership Questionnaire, which carries out a study of the membership levels every two years, found there were fewer clubs taking up the game and a greater number of golfers reverting to independent, unaffiliated, play.

Paul Weatherill, secretary of Baildon Golf Club, said it has seen its full memberships for men decrease from 320 in 1993 to 80 this year.

He said: "All clubs have seen a decline in membership over the last ten years.

"There are so many golf clubs in a small radius, within five miles of Baildon there is a dozen other clubs. They are vying for the same people."

Steve Eyre, secretary of nine-hole South Bradford Golf Club off Pearson Road, Odsal, which has about 200 members, agreed that the sport's declining national appeal was reflected at local level.

He said: "There has been a downturn in golf membership nationally but we are living with it.

"Golf has become unpopular with juniors. They have got a lot more to do with their time with mobiles and gadgets and they don't play a lot of sport. It's just a trend.

"We are continually trying to develop things."