Golf Club Holdings teed off 1999 with a 94% fall in pre-tax profits to £11,000, despite a near doubling of turnover to £2.76m. The group attributed this discrepancy to increased central costs and to the infancy of one of its sites, Vale Royal Abbey, which is still in its first year of operation. Net interest payable nearly doubled, reflecting a burst of acquisitions earlier this year. In May, GCH purchased Wickham Park for £1.1m. Having acquired the lease and purchase option for Chase Golf Club, in Staffordshire, the group made a similar agreement with the current owners of Ecclestone Park Club in Merseyside.