The Move to Tettenhall 1908
In 1905 the idea of using Oxley Park as a golf course was raised and schemes were also considered at Himley Park and Wrottesley Park. New House Farm at Merry Hill was seriously considered as there was room to create a course of 5,400 yards compared to 4,700 yards on the Common, however although a majority of the Committee were in favour of the scheme it was pursued no further.
Land on the edge of Dunstall Park was considered and rejected and attention turned to a plot of land at Danescourt, Tettenhall which had belonged to the recently deceased W.S. Loveridge. The Committee thought the site was very suitable and resolved to invite Willie Park, J.H. Taylor, James Braid or Harry Vardon to inspect the site and offer advice. The Committee finally agreed to invite Vardon, provided he would come within thirty days and charge no more than ten guineas. Vardon duly inspected the site and pronounced it highly suitable for golf.
The initial offer of £5,500 for the land was refused. Further enquiries were made
about land at Compton and at Oxbarn Farm near Penn Fields. With the Committee undecided which project to pursue George Coburn, the Midland Professional Champion, from Sandwell Park was invited to give his opinion as to which site was the best and he strongly favoured Danescourt.
In March 1907, the Committee agreed to recommend the Danescourt scheme at a General Meeting of the Club. The members agreed to the scheme and to an increase in subscriptions. A twenty five year lease at £150 per annum was negotiated with an option to purchase for £6,000 inclusive of timber and a site for a clubhouse, provided the site for the clubhouse did not exceed 2/9d per square yard.
Arrangements were made to move to Tettenhall in 1908 but some members decided to stay on at the Common and play at the new Penn Golf Club which was to take over the old course.
The new course at Danescourt would solve many of the problems the golf club experienced at Penn. There was room to lay out a much longer course which would match the recent improvements in the quality of golf balls. The land had much better drainage and access was much easier for the membership. Many members lived nearby and the electric tramway which ran from the centre of Wolverhampton was extended in 1908 to a new terminus at the bottom of the Wergs Road, just a short distance away from the course.
The plans for the layout of the course were made by Harry Vardon and by George Coburn, the Midland Professional Champion, from Sandwell Park. The layout approved by the Committee was essentially that of Vardon but incorporated some of the ideas of Coburn and a club member Mr A.E. Jenks. The new course would measure 5,785 yards and was sown with a well known brand of seed and the company guaranteed that it would be fit for play by September 29th 1908, although the fitness for play would be determined by an independent professional.
The club professional, Sidney Wingate, was to stake out the new course and together with his brother Charles, the professional at Olton Golf Club, to supervise the building of the course. Despite a few teething problems with the type of seed first recommended for sowing, the course was laid out to the plan drawn by Harry Vardon on open pasture land with a few large elm trees, the hazards being a multitude of man-made bunkers, old hedgerows
and thick rough. The bogey of the course was set at 78.
The Committee had also decided that a new clubhouse was to be built, to be opened on the same day as the new course. There was much debate as to the material to be used to build it and to which architects from the town would design it. Eventually, the design by the highly reputed architect F.T. Beck was chosen and the tender by local builders Wilson Lovett was accepted at a cost of £2,167 with an extra cost of £134 for slates on the roof instead of tiles. The whole project was to be completed in eighteen weeks with a penalty of £20 per week for late completion.
Although the clubhouse was used on Friday 2nd October 1908 for a Committee Meeting, the new course and clubhouse were officially opened on Saturday 3rd October 1908 at 11.00am and after the official ceremony where the Captain and still Hon. Treasurer, Mr Mein Wilkie, drove the first ball, a competition was held with a prize of one guinea for the best gross score.
Land on the edge of Dunstall Park was considered and rejected and attention turned to a plot of land at Danescourt, Tettenhall which had belonged to the recently deceased W.S. Loveridge. The Committee thought the site was very suitable and resolved to invite Willie Park, J.H. Taylor, James Braid or Harry Vardon to inspect the site and offer advice. The Committee finally agreed to invite Vardon, provided he would come within thirty days and charge no more than ten guineas. Vardon duly inspected the site and pronounced it highly suitable for golf.
The initial offer of £5,500 for the land was refused. Further enquiries were made
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Vardon's Letter |
In March 1907, the Committee agreed to recommend the Danescourt scheme at a General Meeting of the Club. The members agreed to the scheme and to an increase in subscriptions. A twenty five year lease at £150 per annum was negotiated with an option to purchase for £6,000 inclusive of timber and a site for a clubhouse, provided the site for the clubhouse did not exceed 2/9d per square yard.
Arrangements were made to move to Tettenhall in 1908 but some members decided to stay on at the Common and play at the new Penn Golf Club which was to take over the old course.
The new course at Danescourt would solve many of the problems the golf club experienced at Penn. There was room to lay out a much longer course which would match the recent improvements in the quality of golf balls. The land had much better drainage and access was much easier for the membership. Many members lived nearby and the electric tramway which ran from the centre of Wolverhampton was extended in 1908 to a new terminus at the bottom of the Wergs Road, just a short distance away from the course.
The plans for the layout of the course were made by Harry Vardon and by George Coburn, the Midland Professional Champion, from Sandwell Park. The layout approved by the Committee was essentially that of Vardon but incorporated some of the ideas of Coburn and a club member Mr A.E. Jenks. The new course would measure 5,785 yards and was sown with a well known brand of seed and the company guaranteed that it would be fit for play by September 29th 1908, although the fitness for play would be determined by an independent professional.
The club professional, Sidney Wingate, was to stake out the new course and together with his brother Charles, the professional at Olton Golf Club, to supervise the building of the course. Despite a few teething problems with the type of seed first recommended for sowing, the course was laid out to the plan drawn by Harry Vardon on open pasture land with a few large elm trees, the hazards being a multitude of man-made bunkers, old hedgerows
and thick rough. The bogey of the course was set at 78.The Committee had also decided that a new clubhouse was to be built, to be opened on the same day as the new course. There was much debate as to the material to be used to build it and to which architects from the town would design it. Eventually, the design by the highly reputed architect F.T. Beck was chosen and the tender by local builders Wilson Lovett was accepted at a cost of £2,167 with an extra cost of £134 for slates on the roof instead of tiles. The whole project was to be completed in eighteen weeks with a penalty of £20 per week for late completion.
Although the clubhouse was used on Friday 2nd October 1908 for a Committee Meeting, the new course and clubhouse were officially opened on Saturday 3rd October 1908 at 11.00am and after the official ceremony where the Captain and still Hon. Treasurer, Mr Mein Wilkie, drove the first ball, a competition was held with a prize of one guinea for the best gross score.