The All England Club offered £63.75M for 73 acres of land belonging to the Wimbledon Park Golf Club.GETTY IMAGES
Wimbledon's ambitions of "trebling its space for the high point of the tennis summer came down to old-fashioned pragmatism and money" on Wednesday as members of the adjoining golf club decided to "share equally" a £63.75M ($84.3M) offer for their "precious" 73 acres, according to Kevin Mitchell of the London GUARDIAN. After a "quick" discussion, Wimbledon Park Golf Cub, which is across the road from the main gates of the tennis grounds, "resolved by more than the required 75% majority to alter its articles of association so it can split the spoils between all 750 members rather than just those who have been there more than 10 years." That is a "smart choice" because three years ago, it "was offered a mere" £25M ($33.1M). The club will "decide finally in December whether or not to accept the once-and-for-all bid by the All England Club," which owns the "dwindling lease." One Wimbledon member said, "This is their Brexit. They have to make a call one way or another -- in or out." Annual membership at Wimbledon Park, "after a joining fee" of £3,000 ($3,970), costs up to £1,450 ($1,920), "no hardship for the likes of Piers Morgan and Ant and Dec." But the "delicious dilemma for all of them was an obvious one." Take £85,000 ($112,400) each after tax and "withdraw to a nine-hole course at the rear of the property, or maintain the status quo until the lease expires" in '41 -- and blow £63.75M. Some members of Wimbledon Park are "married couples or partners, so they stand to make or lose" a combined £170,000 ($224,900). One source said, "There are plenty of alternatives in the area if they wanted to join another club" (THE GUARDIAN, 10/10).
