FORGOTTEN GREENS – CLUBS WHICH NO LONGER EXIST
Alveston Golf Club. Founded 1903. A 9-hole course 2 miles from Thornbury. Natural hazards. Membership 70-85. Closed 1927.
In February 1935 a move was made to resurrect the club. Work was started on the 9-hole course and by the end of the year membership was 111. The club became affiliated to the EGU in 1937, and home and away matches with Chipping Sodbury and Rodway Hill were started. A small clubhouse was opened in 1939. The club remained open during WW2 but with reducing membership and a deteriorating course. The decline continued causing the club to be voluntarily wound up on 28 April 1948.
Badminton Golf Club. Founded 1905. The Duchess of Beaufort and Capt Julian Spicer were prominent in establishing this 9-hole club in Badminton Park, 1 mile from the station. Laid out by Harry Dunn, from Westward Ho, the hazards are entirely natural. Membership peaked at 60. (VCH 1907). The club resigned from the Gloucester Golf Union in January 1911 "owing to the smallness of their numbers." The Secretary was Capt Spicer, The Cottage, Badminton. Last recorded 1914.
The estate archive has no records of the club or course.
Barnwood Golf Club. Founded 1896. A 9-hole course on meadowland in the grounds of Barnwood Vicarage, about a mile and a half from Gloucester station.
Length of Course, 2390 yards - Bogey 37
Hole No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Length in yards 115 395 310 340 180 370 225 265 190
Bogey 3 5 4 5 3 5 4 4 4
“Hazards are a brook, which has to be crossed several times, and hedges, and the difficulties are enhanced by numerous grips intersecting the fields. The greens are good and of a fair size. Originally play was confined to spring and winter but this was extended to all year following the appointment of a Greenkeeper/Professional in 1904. A monthly handicap is held on the 1st Thursday and a Bogey handicap on the 3rd Thursday of each month.” Membership 50-75. (VCH 1907) Name changed to Gloucester GC in 1905.
Birdlip Golf Club. Founded 1897. A 9-hole course on Birdlip Common. Went into abeyance 1900 but re-established 1901. Hon Sec (04-05) W J Harrison, Harrison's Hotel, Birdlip Last mention 1908.
Cheltenham Golf Club. Instituted 1891. An 18 hole course on Cleeve Common, about three miles from the town.
“The course was laid out by Tom Morris, and offers plenty of variety and a sufficiency of difficulties and dangers. It is a circular course of eighteen holes which are to be found at altitudes varying from 700ft to 1000ft above sea level. It takes the player over a wide range of high and undulating down, where he enjoys bracing mountain air, and is ever and anon charmed by magnificent views over the lowlands of Gloucestershire and Worcestershire to the far away hills of Wales and Shropshire. The hazards are quarries, deep-sunk roads, and cart-tracks.” (GA 1892-93). There is no evidence that Tom Morris laid out the course, other than the statement by a member of the Club’s Board, whereas the minutes record that David Brown, the Malvern Professional, was commissioned to spend the summer of 1891 at Cleve Hill “to arrange for the preparation and keeping of the green.”
Following the Great War, during which activities were curtailed, the membership failed to grow, primarily due to the opening of Lilley Brook Golf Club in Cheltenham. In 1930 the club’s finances began to deteriorate until, in November 1935 it was resolved that the club should go into liquidation. The trophies were stored in Lloyds Bank. In 1952 a final meeting of ex-members of the club agreed that the trophies should be divided between Cotswolds Hill GC and Lilley Brook GC.
Churchdown Golf Club. Founded 1901. Photo
A very pretty and sporting 9-hole course on Chosen Hill. Laid out by G H Causey, Malvern, the links are somewhat hilly and have a clay subsoil, but the turf and greens are excellent. The 9 holes err on the short side.
The holes were 1 The Gate - 395yds b5; 2 The Spinney - 247yds b4; 3 Oystershells Green - 208yds b4; 4 The Saddle - 150yds b4; 5 Spion Kop - 120yds b3; 6 Rabbits' Hill - 293yds b4; 7 The Crab - 208yds b4; 8 The Railway - 416 yds b5; 9 Home - 236yds b4; Total 2273 yds, bogey 37. Membership rose from 113 in 1903 to 300 in 1908. In 1910 the course was extended to 18 holes with the additional nine running parallel to the railway but these were not nearly so sporting as the original nine. Membership began to decline as the club lost members to the 18-hole course which was opened at Brockworth in 1910, and the club finally closed in 1915 because of the War. Originally Chosen Hill GC, the name changed to Churchdown GC in 1905.
Cinderford Golf Club. First mentioned 1933. A 9-hole course a mile and a half from the stn. Membership 110. Last mentioned 1947.
Clifton Downs Golf Club. Founded 1895. A 9-hole course with natural hazards on Durdham Downs, Bristol. As the Downs are public land, play is not permitted after 2pm, nor on Bank or Public holidays. Membership 150-250. (VCH 1907). Last mentioned 1947.
Cotswold Golf Club. Founded 1891. Originally a 7-hole course one mile from the station (GWR), it was extended to 18 in 1894 "with hazards to every one, while the putting greens are excellent." (GA 1894-95).
"The club was organised by several local gentlemen from the north Cotswolds notably Messrs C A Whitmore of Lower Slaughter T W Stubbs of Quarwood on Stow Hill, H E Rose, and Colonel Wynter who at the time was living at Little Rissington Manor; the first President of the club was Frank Sartoris of Abbotswood. The 9-hole course, designed by the Captain of Royal Blackheath Golf Club - Mr J G Gibson, had natural hazard, being walls, trees, hedges, ditches etc. Play was from Sep to May only, as the land was used for grazing in the summer . The course was opened with a match between Mr Gibson and Douglas Rolland, the professional at Limpsfield Chart. The match was played over twenty-one holes, with Mr Gibson going round in 100 and Rolland in 88. During the early years of the club, the gentleman members competed for a monthly medal over twenty-one holes, while the women played for a ladies' brooch over fourteen holes.
In the Monthly Medal in January 1893, the Earl of Eldon and three of his sons were in the first eight places. the winner being the Hon M Scott. Lady Margaret Scott won the Ladies Broach. (WGS 28.1.1893) Lady Margaret won the first three Ladies Amateur Championships.
In 1907 the club had about sixty members, mostly of the moneyed and leisured classes. The club headquarters were in the Unicorn Hotel, opposite to the gates leading to the green. (VCH 1907)
During the Second World War, the course was ruined when American Sherman tanks practised manoeuvres there and it closed sometime during 1943/44.
Forest of Dean Golf Club. Instituted 1906. A 9-hole course at High Nish, two minutes from the station.
Length of Course, 2300 yards - Bogey 36
Hole No. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Length in yards 320 120 330 310 60 220 300 280 360
Bogey 5 3 4 4 3 4 4 4 5
“The present course is new this year(1909). The course is dry, the air is bracing, being 600 feet above the sea level. The views from the links are strikingly beautiful.” (WWG)
Membership 60-98. Last mention 1940. Ploughed up for farming during WW2.
 Gloucester Golf Club.
Instituted 1 Jan 1910. An 18-hole course in Brockworth Park, four miles from the city centre on Ermine Street. The course was radically altered in 1912 and 1913, with many hedges cleared away and a large number of artificial bunkers being introduced. The topsoil is a light sandy loam and, with the large amount of drainage introduced, dries quickly after the heaviest rain. By 1913 the course measured 5470 yds with holes varying from 90 to 503 yds; bogey was 77(par 75). The Ladies play over the same course with shortened tees at many of the holes. The bogey of the course is 78 and the scratch score is 74l.
“Ted Ray, the Open champion. and George Duncan took part in two matches over the course on April 4, 1913. In the forenoon the players engaged in a hole and hole match, which Duncan won by 4 up and 2 to play. In the afternoon a medal round was played, each returning 73. This score will be regarded as the official record of the course.”(GC 5.4.13)
The clubhouse, formerly Brockworth Manor House, is large and spacious and affords excellent accommodation.
Length of Course, 6001 yard Bogey 75
Hole No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Length in yards 337 386 385 295 115 480 254 390 409
Bogey 4 5 4 4 3 5 4 5 5
Hole No 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Length in yards 148 457 402 204 338 420 332 337 332
Bogey 3 5 4 4 4 5 4 4 4
Major Trophies: Barnwood Challenge Cup, Barnwood Challenge Bowl, Hibbard Challenge Shield, Flight Challenge Bowl, Martell Challenge Cup, Baker Challenge Cup, Symons Challenge Cup. Membership 275-350. Part of the course was taken over in 1939 to expand the airfield at Gloster Aviation, and the club closed early in WW2.
Larkhill Golf Club. Founded 1901. A 9-hole course three quarters of a mile from Culkeston stn and a mile and a quarter from Tetbury. Established by Lord Estcourt, Major Holford, Captain Gilbert Henry on Lord Estcourt’ s land, the course is on pasture and down land, with natural and artificial hazards, and is of a very sporting nature. Membership 115. (VCH 1907).
Last date 1927.
Moreton in Marsh Golf Club. Founded 1906. A 9-hole course adjacent to station.
Length of Course, 2301 yards - Bogey 35
Hole No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Length in yards 278 250 251 262 291 208 356 245 160
Bogey 5 5 4 5 5 4 6 4 4
“The course is over a farm. Natural bunkers; the hedges cut and laid. Two brooks to cross. It is a good sporting course.” (WWG)
Membership 40-50. Last mentioned 1914
 North Gloucestershire Golf Club.
Founded 1911. At Leckhampton, Cheltenham. "The first competition in connection with the Leckhampton GC will be held on Saturday June 11 1911 and it is hoped that as many members as possible will make a point of entering. The course is now in much better condition, despite the long spell of dry weather; the timber and hedge cuttings. which have been the objects of so many maledictions and the depositories of so many golf balls, have been cleared away and now that the rain, so long delayed, has at last made its appearance, it is hoped that the greens will rapidly improve. A 9 whole course has been completed and this will be found much easier to negotiate than the old one and, incidentally, much easier to keep up and maintain. On or after July 1st, new members will be admitted for the remainder of the financial year, which it ends on 31 December 1912, at half the present rates of subscription, and they will thus obtain membership of the club on very advantageous terms." (Cheltenham Looker-In 24/6/11). The Club changed its name to North Gloucestershire GC in 1912 and the course was extended to 18 holes by 1913. By 1913 it became a Limited Company with offices in Montpellier Chambers, Cheltenham.
1913: Capt. W Bell-Howarth; Hon Sec. Colonel Newill; Committee W Bell-Haworth, EMB Joyce, A Milne, E Baring, HA Webb, RJ Webb, AJ Verini.
 An exhibition match was played in 1914 by Harry Vardon and Ted Ray. Watched by a large crowd, Ted Ray set a course record of sixty-two strokes.
The club closed in 1915 because of the Great War and re-opened in 1919. It closed again because it was proposed to re-open on 25 Mar 1921 on a new 9-hole course opposite the Grange Hotel. Offices now in Lansdown Chambers, Cheltenham.
Closed in 1922 having been eclipsed by Cleeve Hill and the newly opened Lilleybrook club.
Rodway Hill Golf Club. Founded 1898. An 18-hole course on Rodway Hill adjacent to Mangotsfield stn. It is on pasture and common land, rented for £5 per annum from Mangotsfield Parish Council, with both natural and artificial hazards.
The Memorandum of Agreement states, inter alia, "...grants William Windus, George Andrew Imlay, William Hewat Russell and others for the time being members of the "Rodway Hill Golf Club" permission to play golf upon and over the land known as Rodway Hill." And "...it will be lawful for the club to clear and level certain spaces on the said land not exceeding six in number and not more than 50 feet square in extent as putting greens and for this purpose may take up and relay the surface of the turf on the said hill. ....and it shall also be lawful for them to construct a hole in each of the said greens not exceeding six inches in diameter and twelve inches in depth, such hole to be protected when play is not in progress by the insertion of a wooden plug."
There was a Challenge match on 22 Jul 1903 between A White, the home professional, and E Foord, Burnham & Berrow, which the latter won 3 and 2.(GI )
“Interest in the examination in golf which the Rodway Hill (Bristol) Club imposed upon all members who desired to compete for their Captain’s Prize the other day has been general, and now we are able to present to readers the “paper” that was set. It was handed to competitors immediately before playing, and they were called upon to give their answers forthwith, the answers in each instance to embrace both match and stroke play. The questions set were:
1. If a ball be lost in match play or stroke competition, what do you do?
2. What is the penalty if your ball strikes you or your caddie in match play or stroke play?
3. If a ball be played out of bounds, what do you do?
4. A ball may be lifted from any place in stroke competition. What is the penalty?
5. What is the penalty if you tee up outside the limits of teeing ground in match play and stroke competition respectively?
6. What is the penalty in match play and stroke competition for grounding your club or moving any obstacle in a bunker?
These questions, which are straightforward and easy to those who know the rules and will give the matter little thought, strange to say proved too much for many of the competitors, and it was surprising what a number failed to qualify. All the questions - which really numbered twelve, inasmuch as twelve answers had to be given - had to be answered, failure in one disqualifying the competitor. The Sub-Committee who were appointed to deal with the competition consisted of the Captain (J G Wills), the hon. Secretary (Percy Baldwin), and the hon. Match Secretary (Talbot Plum), all of whom were barred from entering the event. (GI 29.9.1905) Length of Course, 4877 yards - Bogey 79
Hole No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Length in yards 232 144 185 480 265 230 460 315 305
Bogey 4 3 4 6 4 4 5 4 4
Hole No 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18
Length in yards 185 235 225 280 205 310 250 300 210
Bogey 4 4 4 5 3 5 4 5 5
Membership peaked at 300 but latterly was down to 160. Closed in 1926 but was revived in 1927.
Requisitioned by the War Ministry 1941, the clubhouse becoming an Officers’ Mess.
Royal Agricultural College Golf Club. Instituted 1894. A 9-hole course in the College grounds, outside Cirencester. Natural hazards of stonewalls and hedges.(VCH 1907) The course is on heavy soil and at the mercy of the weather. 1898 was very wet and the course became unplayable and the club was allowed to play at Sapperton, and then Minchinhampton. From 1899, improvements were made, as befits an agricultural establishment. but funds were never large and so changes were not as sweeping as might have been.. Membership, and standards, fluctuated as the student population varied although there was a small core of players among the staff from 1897 until 1900, the most notable member was John L Low. The club's early ties were naturally with Cirencester but by 1909 matches were also played with Stroud, Gloucester, Marlborough, Cleeve Hill. Last mentioned 1914(GH).
 Stroud Golf Club.
"A few gentlemen of Stroud, thinking it desirable that a Golf Club should be started on Rodborough Common, held a preliminary meeting to talk the matter over at the Royal George Hotel on 10th February 1904." (Club Minute Book) It was a 9-hole course on Rodborough Common., and "The Bear at Rodborough" was the clubhouse. The course ran for five holes directly to Rodborough Fort and then around the Severn side of the common back to the "Bear" for four holes.
Length of Course, 2455 yards - Bogey 40
Hole No 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9
Length in yards 190 290 240 315 250 365 425 255 125
Bogey 4 5 4 5 4 5 6 4 3
Course record 34 set by F Webb in 1906. Membership peaked around 100. The club resigned from the Gloucester Golf Union in 1912 because of lack of funds but was re-admitted in May 1913. By 1913 there was also mention of a Rodborough Working Men's Golf Club sharing the common course with Stroud. In 1920 Rodborough Golf Club, playing under the auspices of the Stroud Golf Club, was established. However neither club was well supported and an appeal was made in the Stroud Journal in June 1926 for more support. It must have been a struggle for a considerable time because in 1915 favourable membership terms were being sought from Minchinhampton GC. It could not have been very successful since golf on Rodborough disappeared in 1930.
Tewkesbury Golf Club. Founded 1892. A 9-hole course on Shuthonger Common. Membership around 104. Last date 1927.
Wotton Under Edge Golf Club. Founded 1903. A 9-hole course two and a half miles from Charfield station(MR) at Bradley. The turf is good and the greens well kept. The hazards are Saxon and Roman banks and earthworks, a dry moat, a deep deilkin, a sand cliff and brook. Membership around 45. In 1910 the club resigned from the Gloucester Golf Union "being practically defunct." Last mentioned 1914(GH)
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