{"id":281331,"date":"2025-11-24T21:51:12","date_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:51:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/281331\/"},"modified":"2025-11-24T21:51:12","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T21:51:12","slug":"an-extraordinary-year-looking-back-as-maidenhead-golf-club-prepares-to-leave-its-course","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/281331\/","title":{"rendered":"‘An extraordinary year’: Looking back as Maidenhead Golf Club prepares to leave its course"},"content":{"rendered":"

An \u2018extraordinary year\u2019 is drawing to a close for Maidenhead Golf Club which is facing its final weeks at its course in the town.<\/p>\n

The club must leave its sizeable course by Shoppenhangers Road, based on land owned by RBWM, to make room for 1,500 houses and flats, which the council voted for in February.<\/p>\n

Maidenhead Golf Club (MGC) has known that it must move for a number of years, and that it would receive about \u00a316million from the council for surrendering its lease early.<\/p>\n

It has signed the surrender agreement, meaning it is locked in and must move somewhere else \u2013 but initially struggled to find an alternative site.<\/p>\n

The club looked at several locations including in Fifield, Cookham and Flackwell Heath. All these plans fell through.<\/p>\n

Then Mill Ride Golf Club in Ascot came up for sale unexpectedly; the wife of a jailed Azeri banker was forced to forfeit it.<\/p>\n

In July, the golf club signed the purchase agreements for Mill Ride. Members will continue to play at Shoppenhangers Road until the end of this year.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

As the year-end approaches, Dave Baker, chairman of Maidenhead Golf Club, reflected on how the club and its members are feeling.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club remains in very good spirits and focused on ensuring a smooth transition to Mill Ride,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an extraordinary year for both clubs, but especially for MGC, which faced the real prospect of closing its shutters on its 130-year legacy forever.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said there has been \u2018a tremendous amount of work to do\u2019 but that the club is \u2018progressing well\u2019 through its to-do list.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur members have shown great support and understanding during this period, which has been invaluable,\u201d said Mr Baker.<\/p>\n

The club has also had \u2018very positive feedback\u2019 from current Mill Ride members, he said, who \u2018have themselves experienced a period of uncertainty.\u2019<\/p>\n

The club has \u2018worked hard to keep both sets of members regularly informed.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s a strong sense that, together, we\u2019ll make our new home a members\u2019 club to be proud of,\u201d said Mr Baker.<\/p>\n

Investment in improving the course has already begun, as has work to enhance the look of the clubhouse.<\/p>\n

The club has not had much contact recently with Cala Homes or RBWM, other than confirmation that it will be leaving its current site on December 31.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope the clubhouse will be put to good use once we vacate it \u2013 though, regretfully, that will no longer be our decision to make,\u201d said Mr Baker.<\/p>\n

He added: \u201cNaturally, there\u2019s a huge sense of nostalgia as we reflect on almost 130 years of golf at this location.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe club has been part of the local community for generations, and many members have strong personal connections to the course and its history.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat said, we\u2019re also looking forward to beginning a new chapter at Mill Ride, where we see great opportunities to continue the club\u2019s traditions in a fresh setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re proud of what\u2019s been achieved here over the years and grateful for the local support that has helped the club thrive.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe hope that legacy will carry forward into this next chapter.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

David Dwyer, chair of MGC’s membership and marketing committee.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"An \u2018extraordinary year\u2019 is drawing to a close for Maidenhead Golf Club which is facing its final weeks…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,22008,101,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-281331","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-maidenhead-golf-course","10":"tag-sports","11":"tag-uk","12":"tag-united-kingdom","13":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=281331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}