Widely regarded as one of James Braid’s finest designs, Brora was one of roughly 125 clubs that secured access to £10 million of funding in 2025 for major improvement projects through North Berwick-based Golf Finance.
Like many, Brora needed to upgrade its irrigation system to improve course conditions and reduce water usage. As a specialist broker working with a panel of nearly 60 funding providers, Golf Finance helped to achieve this without a major upfront hit to the club’s cash flow.
Founded by Ian Henderson, his son Neil took over the business a few years ago and is now looking to grow further. Neil explains why changing weather patterns and ageing infrastructure, which are ratcheting up demand for specialist golf course finance, should make this achievable.
How did your father wind up in such a specialised line of work?
He formally set up Golf Finance in 2000, but he’d been a finance broker in the agricultural sector before that. He actually came into finance through motorbikes – he was a very good racer, worked in a motorbike garage and started helping out with finance on the bikes.
Originally it was Anderson Finance and most of the work was rural finance for farmers. Then he began doing some deals with suppliers in the golf industry and saw a niche for a specialist golf finance broker to help clubs. That side of things grew and now about 80% of what we do is golf, with roughly 20% outside golf.
What’s your relationship with golf?
I grew up in North Berwick and played for Scotland as a junior. Then I went to the States on a four‑year golf scholarship at Old Dominion in Virginia. When I came back, I turned professional and played mainly on the EuroPro Tour, with a few events on other tours.
Neil Henderson previously played on the EuroPro and Challenge tours (Image: Supplied)
When did you get involved in your dad’s business?
I started helping out during Covid in 2020. Then in 2021 my dad had a serious motorbike accident and that really forced the issue – I had to step in and run the company.
I already knew a lot of the clients, but that’s when it became my full‑time profession rather than golf. Since then, Malcolm Pennycott and I have taken the business on from my dad over the last four or five years and tried to grow it and push more into other parts of the UK.
What is driving demand for your services?
There’s always the “bread‑and‑butter” – machinery and golf buggies – which clubs replace every four to seven years. But the really critical projects now are irrigation systems and clubhouses.
The average age of an irrigation system in the UK is about 37 years, and they were probably only meant to last for 30, so they’re at the end of their life. Clubhouses are ageing too.
Investment in robotic mowers is rising with the need to alleviate pressure on overstretched greenkeeping staff (Image: Golf Finance)
If a club doesn’t invest while its competitors do, it falls behind. The problem is clubs see quotes from £250,000 up to £2–3 million and think there’s no way they can afford it. Our role is to show them it’s an investment in the club’s future and can be financed over, say, 10 years.
How does Golf Finance fit into this picture?
We see ourselves as one option within a wider plan. If it’s a £1m project, we might finance half. The rest could come from life memberships, cash reserves or other sources. We’ll help clubs weigh up the whole funding mix.
We don’t charge for that advice – if they take the ideas and don’t end up using us, that’s fine. The main thing is to open their eyes to the fact these projects are affordable and can make the club sustainable.
And you also work with the Club Managers Association of Europe?
If managers or member businesses have questions about finance, funding or capital projects, we’re the people CMAE will point them to. We’re also working with partners on energy.
‘Our job is to show them that, structured properly, they can invest without putting the club at risk’ (Image: Golf Finance)
A lot of smaller clubs are struggling with energy costs, so with a utilities consultant, Next-Gen Power, we analyse energy bills and contracts to find savings, look at whether solar is viable for their clubhouse or maintenance sheds, and then fund the installation so it’s effectively cash‑neutral.
So you’re staying busy?
Business is definitely on the up, driven by that replacement cycle for irrigation and clubhouses with a lot of systems past their design life.
Many clubs still don’t realise they can finance these projects, or they’re scared they’ll bankrupt the club if they invest. Our job is to show them that, structured properly, they can invest without putting the club at risk.
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