AUBURN — Martindale Country Club members will gather Thursday to discuss a cash-flow problem at the club that’s considered one of the finest in the area.

According to Martindale’s top official, the problem is not how much money is coming into the club, it’s how much money is owed. Like millions of people and businesses, the club is having a hard time catching up with bills.

“Over the years we’ve accumulated a substantial amount of back-payables. In other words, people who have provided us with goods and services, we have been unable to pay,” Martindale President Bill Young said Thursday night. “From an operations point of view, Martindale is doing fine. From a cash flow point of view, Martindale is hurting.”

  Young estimates the club owes $240,000 in back payments for various things. With the inability to get short-term loans, the club has not been able to catch up with those bills in spite of turning profits.

“You look at a $2 million operation and you think, well that’s really not that much. And it isn’t. But it is when you can’t find the money,” Young said.

The start of Martindale’s money woes goes back years. The club has tried several things to get its bills under control, including opening its doors to the public after decades as a members-only golf course.

And golf isn’t the only game at Martindale. Young points out that the club has also been the site of thousands of weddings, banquets, tournaments and a variety of social gatherings. Money comes in but after years of accumulating bills, the problems remain.

“I’m told by some of the staff that it’s a whole lot better than it has been in past years. We’re close. We’re very, very close,” he said. “We’re making progress but we’re not out of the hole. We’ll make no bones about it.”

Club officials will gather with members Thursday to apprise them of the current situation. In following days, Young said he will meet with officials at TD Bank to discuss possible solutions. The possibility of bankruptcy looms, though Young does not expect that outcome.

“That’s something we don’t want to do,” Young said. “But at the same time, that’s something that is out there.”

The state of the economy hurts, Young said, because luxuries like golf are frequently the first to go when people start cutting back in their personal budgets. In the spring, the club had around 250 paying members, down from 303 a year before.

Still, things were looking brighter at the start of the season but then the weather did not chip in with help.

On June 1, Martindale became semiprivate, hoping to draw in money from nonmembers.

“And it rained for 23 days in June,” Young recalled. “When it rains, members don’t play, much less the public.”

Martindale has been at the center of the local golf scene since 1921 when it first opened. It has hosted the Maine Amateur tournament five times and several professionals forged championship careers on the Martindale grounds. According to Martindale literature, so many champions came from the club, it was deemed “The Mother of Champions.”

In recent years, the club has spent money on things like grooming equipment to maintain or improve the course, which hasn’t helped the present money shortage. Young is quick to point out that the course and facilities have not been made to suffer, in spite of the cash flow crunch. On Thursday, the area Chamber of Commerce played its annual tournament there.

“Everyone is just raving about how good the club looks,” Young said. “We’re taking excellent care of it. We view Martindale as a real community asset because of the kinds of things we do.”

Chris Delamater, the current club champion at Martindale, said the matter of how good the course and facilities are has never been in question.

“It’s one of the nicest clubs in the area, in my opinion,” he said. “The condition of the course is great.”

Delamater said he expects the club will find its way out of the current budget crunch.

And so in coming days, club financial records will be dissected, members will gather and bank officials will be asked for help.

Young did not want to speculate what it would take to bring Martindale out of its present financial gloom, but said all options would be considered.

“There are probably five different things we’re working on to solve this problem,” he said, “and one of them is going to work.”