It\u2019s the \u2018end of an era\u2019 for Maidenhead Golf Club after members played a final round at their Shoppenhangers course before moving off.<\/p>\n
The golf club has long known that it would have to move by the end of 2025 to make room for the controversial 1,500-home development by Cala\u00a0Homes.<\/p>\n
For many members, New Year\u2019s Eve was a sad day, saying goodbye to a course some have played on for almost half a century.<\/p>\n
Maidenhead Golf Club was formed in 1896, making it 130 years old.<\/p>\n
William Henry Grenfell was the Mayor of Maidenhead in 1895-96 and an extremely wealthy businessman who owned more than 10,000 acres of land around the town.<\/p>\n
He offered to lease some of his acreage near the railway station, which was to become Maidenhead Golf Club\u2019s home and remained so for all these years.<\/p>\n
W H Grenfell, later to become Lord Desborough, was one of the earliest 63 members of the club and became its first president.<\/p>\n
The club has undergone much change over the years, such as building a \u2018ladies only\u2019 course in 1897 and scrapping it 10 years later.<\/p>\n
The 90s and early 2000s saw big improvements to the irrigation system and clubhouse, which was demolished and replaced with an improved one to mark the centenary in 1996.<\/p>\n
Club president Colin Chisholm has been a member of Maidenhead Golf Club for about 38 years and says his overall feeling about leaving their home of 130 years is \u2018one of great sadness\u2019.<\/p>\n
He also said he felt sorry for the town\u2019s loss, as the course played host to the Lions and the Rotary Club and had a connection going back 20 years.<\/p>\n
It also hosted Marks and Spencer\u2019s employees for their Christmas do and had a strong connection with Weight Watchers.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe golf club was part of the community in Maidenhead. It\u2019s a pity to lose that,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
To bid a fond farewell to their Shoppenhangers course, MGC scheduled a symbolic \u2018last putt out\u2019 on December 31, before lowering the flag outside the clubhouse.<\/p>\n
Speaking to the Advertiser before this, Colin said: \u201cI\u2019ll have a tear in my eye [thinking of] all the rounds I played at Maidenhead.<\/p>\n
\u201cMany of our members have been members for 30-plus years, and it\u2019s a big change for them.\u201d<\/p>\n
Their new place, Mill Ride in Ascot, is much larger at 170 acres versus 134 at Maidenhead, offers a more challenging course, and is \u2018arguably a more interesting\u2019 course with water features and such.<\/p>\n
It is better for young players, in that respect, Colin says \u2013 and he also hopes that the club will be able to transition its community and social functions successfully in the fullness of time.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe social nights at Maidenhead have always been terrific and we\u2019ll struggle to keep that going [at Mill Ride] but I\u2019m sure we will in the end. It\u2019s in our DNA [to adapt],\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s the end of an era but we\u2019ve got a future to look forward to. It\u2019ll be very interesting to see what we can make [of Mill Ride] over the next five to ten years.\u201d<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, there has been much hustle and bustle at the Shoppenhangers site, with the emptying of the clubhouse rooms and a \u2018continuous stream\u2019 of removal lorries to Mill Ride.<\/p>\n
There, work has already been done on improving the course, including the drainage and \u2018smartening up\u2019 the clubhouse. There are plans to work on the irrigation in the future.<\/p>\n
David Baker, chairman of MGC, said he is as \u2018sad as anyone\u2019 to be leaving but the move at least means the club can continue.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt could have gone the other way, and we\u2019d be talking about dispersing into other clubs,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s a general feeling among the majority of the membership that there\u2019s a new time ahead of us now, a new future to look forward too.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re extremely sad to be leaving but they also have a keenness to continue the club\u2019s legacy. That\u2019s a core characteristic of our members.\u201d<\/p>\n
Though he anticipates \u2018teething issues\u2019 at Mill Ride, the aim is to treat the acquisition sensitively and create a \u2018fantastic\u2019 single integrated club that reflects the traditions of both histories.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s going to take a bit of time but we\u2019ll get there,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Cala Homes has confirmed that work on the golf course site is anticipated to start mid-2027. In the meantime, Cala will be undertaking \u2018a range of preparatory surveys\u2019.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s the \u2018end of an era\u2019 for Maidenhead Golf Club after members played a final round at their…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":348551,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[39],"tags":[5904,4658,22008,101,22009,56,54,55],"class_list":{"0":"post-348550","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-golf","8":"tag-golf","9":"tag-housing","10":"tag-maidenhead-golf-course","11":"tag-sports","12":"tag-sports-facilities","13":"tag-uk","14":"tag-united-kingdom","15":"tag-unitedkingdom"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348550","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=348550"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/348550\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/348551"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=348550"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=348550"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=348550"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}