The group doesn’t support the board’s proposal for the club to amalgamate with the Catalina Country Club.

Club members will have to vote on the amalgamation option, with a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to be put on the table at the club’s Annual General Meeting on November 29.

The anti-amalgamation group is concerned the club’s board has not looked at other options to save the club, particularly asking club members for financial assistance.

In September, board chairwoman Pat Bill said the club had traded at a loss of $300,000 in the last financial year and $400,000 in the previous year.

“On top of that is our $1.2 million loan and we have creditors lining up,” she said.

One club member, who wished to remain anonymous, said he gave the club $120,000 to pay off creditors.

“I was told by different people they (the club) were having trouble with accounts and it came up to about that figure,” he said.

“If I was told that they were more in debt, I could come to the party with more funds.

“We’ve got access to over a quarter of a million dollars we can put back into the club, but they haven’t sought help from anybody.

“I do know for a fact there are a few members that would be willing to put their hands in their pockets.”

A club member for more than 20 years, Michael Jaques, said there was a group working on a business plan and rescue arrangement that would be released before the meeting or at the meeting for members to consider as an alternative.

“There is a group of bowling club members that feels the amalgamation is really the last option and they (the board) haven’t considered other options,” he said.

“It’s a very, very bad decision what they are thinking of doing to the club,” the anonymous club member said.

“It’s ludicrous.”

Fellow club member Kevin Anderson said he could not see why the club could not continue on its own.

“I believe we can find a way to survive and carry on trading without the amalgamation,” he said.

“We had a great atmosphere in the bowling club until this eventuated.”

Mr Jaques said the group of members opposing the amalgamation was impressed with how the Malua Bay Bowling and Recreation Club members responded to their club’s financial problems in 2007.

The members ran a Save the Club campaign that raised $75,000 to keep the club afloat.