Gourmet golfers at Crail
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Starting this month, husband and wife catering team Carolyn and Alan Henderson are aiming to turn golfers into gourmets at Crail Golfing Society’s refurbished clubhouse.
Hitting the ground running, they have already introduced a brand new daytime menu to tempt both members’ and visitors’ palates, and brought in a new computerised ordering system to speed up service.
Later this month, a Sunday lunch menu is planned and, when the lighter evenings arrive, dinner service will come on stream .
“We appreciate that golfers’ main concern is their golf,” said Alan Henderson, a 3 handicapper himself. “However, that doesn’t mean they can’t be gourmets as well!”
“Our first big test will be Mothers’ Day on Sunday 14 March,” added Carolyn. “We have prepared a special menu and we’re keen to see how the members and their guests react.”
With over 30 years catering experience behind her, Carolyn is the creative force in the kitchen, while hubby Alan masterminds the front of house and the bar.
Previously the couple spent over eight years at Hamilton Golf Club, where their approval ratings were so high that turnover multiplied more than five fold!
“With 1500 members and 10,000 visitors to cater for, Crail Golfing Society is bigger than anything we have done before,” said Alan.
“We are absolutely delighted to have Carolyn and Alan conducting our catering operations,” commented Society Captain Ian Dickson. “There is little doubt that our members and visitors are in for a culinary treat.”
The couple, who will live in the clubhouse flat, have a son, David, who plays off a handicap of plus one, and is currently on a golf scholarship at Falconer University in Montgomery, Alabama.
He’ll join the clubhouse catering team in May, when he will work behind the bar for the summer vacation.
Crail Golfing Society, which is almost 225 years old, is the seventh oldest golf club in the world and has two courses -Craighead Links which opened in 1998, and Balcomie Links, which opened in 1895.
Last year the Society spent £1.3m extending and completely refurbishing the clubhouse.
