ON an autumn Saturday afternoon, keen golfers should have been queuing to tee off at one of the finest courses in Hillingdon.

Instead, as I walked around Harefield Place Golf Club in Uxbridge, I found myself almost alone on the fairways, confronting the depressing sight of forlorn greens overrun with weeds.

At the back of the course, the bunkers were not full of golden sand but had been left as unmaintained, treacherous gravel pits.

In the clubhouse, rather than stories of birdies and breathtaking putts, the talk was of the sad decline of a club that once hosted players like Barry Lane and celebrity figures such as Bruce Forsyth.

The club currently has just 50 regular playing members. Three years ago, it welcomed more than 400.

Members have left in their droves, opting for golf courses outside the borough, like Richings Park and Flackwell Heath.

Harefield Place has slid from its former glory to this sorry state under a council leasing agreement with Mack Trading, a company which is responsible for its management and upkeep.

When the club opened in 1944, its newly-laid 18 holes were a magnet for players of all standards, offering the people of Hillingdon - just emerging from the war - a hint of a new world of leisure.

Over time, course revenues grew and could afford to help other sports clubs.

Vice-captain Tim Miller, 58, recalls: “In the past, you could come here on a Saturday night and you’d find 40 to 50 people in the bar. Now, it’s like a morgue.”

The clubhouse owner and a member since 1976, Mick Gallagher, 47, adds: "The place used to be rocking, but the golf course has been decimated.”

The demise began when a national gas pipeline was laid across part of the course, forcing the club to use reduce in size and introduce a composite 12-hole course.

Transco, which laid the line, paid restoration money to Mack Trading, to restore the course to its former glory once the work was completed. But, according to the members, this has not been completed to a professional standard.

They blame a Hillingdon Council decision to outsource the running of the course to Mack Trading, with its headquarters in Ireland and interests in property development.

Darrell Walker, 62, this year’s captain, said: “I don’t know how or why the council accepted the offer from Mack Trading.”

Members say Mack Trading put in applications to turn part of the course into a landfill site. The final application, for a smaller area of landfill, was granted on appeal this summer, subject to a bond in excess of £750,000 being agreed by Mack Trading.

The borough has taken Mack Trading to court for non-payment of rent.

Mack Trading told me it could not afford to restore the course or carry out proper maintenance unless the borough agreed it could use part of the course as a landfill site for dumping soil from building projects elsewhere.

There can be lucrative rewards in land-filling of golf courses.

Mack Trading has the potential to earn millions from turning part of the course into a landfill site.

Cllr John Hensley, who represents Ickenham, commends the professionalism, patience and the good nature of members over recent years.

Mr Miller, who will become captain in 2012, says he has no choice but to play his golf at another course.

He will fulfill his position as captain out of loyalty but believes he simply cannot continue to play a course of 12 holes which is badly maintained.

Dispirited members struggle round the course, hampered by unmaintained fairways, while weeds grow on what should be showcase greens.

But there is hope for the future. Cllr Hensley told me this week that, once its court action is concluded, the borough will be in a better position to review the situation.

Clubhouse owner Mr Gallagher says, however: “We are looking at around two years until we get our course back. At the end of the day, we have been completely crucified.”

Mack Trading says it wants to solve the problems.

It insists it is the council which has let down members.

Colm McCabe, director of special projects, told me: “Mack Trading tendered for a business with a turnover of over £2m a year and a landfill redevelopment at the golf course.

“When we took over, we discovered the turnover was just £1m a year and we were committed to a very high rental income to the borough.

“We are available at any time to sit down with the council to negotiate a fair and reasonable solution to the current issues, but we have been refused such an opportunity, despite multiple requests over a long period of time.”

And so the row rumbles on.