Another club bites the dust

[Billysboots]

I see on social media today that another club is closing owing to the current financial climate.

Renishaw Park GC, just south of Sheffield, is closing its doors for the last time at the close of play this Sunday.

I have driven past Renishaw any number of times when visiting family, and played it on a number of occasions. It always struck me as a thriving club. Clearly not.

A sad day for members of yet another established club, which has been around for 100 years or more.

 

[Kilbey]

That is sad. Fees are £1340, which is cheaper than nearly all courses near to me in the south brum area. I think we're about £1520.

 

[KenL]

That is sad. Fees are £1340, which is cheaper than nearly all courses near to me in the south brum area. I think we're about £1520.

Ouch, are the courses good?

 

[Kilbey]

Yes. All pretty good parkland courses. I prefer links, but that's a tad tricky in Birmingham.
I don't consider it that expensive when, for example, a ticket to watch the blues play in the championship is over £30. It's less than £30 a week for as much golf as you want to play or have time for. A curry and a few pints will easily top that & I do that every week! A ticket on Saturday night at the local cinema is £22.
Golf, for me, is good value. Less so lately due to my treatment, but normally playing a couple of times a week in spring/summerautumn and at least once in winter.

 

[KenL]

£22 for a cinema ticket.

 

[Lord Tyrion]

@Kilbey £22, wow. That must be some cinema. Our local Vue is £4.99.

I don't know Sheffield that well but that seems a lot. I'm not sure south Brum is a fair comparison.

 

[Kilbey]

I hate the bloomin' cinema. I just picked a film at random on this Saturday night at Solihull Cineworld, which is just a couple of miles from me. So, there could be cheaper deals. Last time I went was about 7 years ago and both me and the missus fell asleep. Watching Birmingham City has the same effect on me TBH. It's not much worse though than watching my regular playing partners pre-shot routine with it's various waggles, tics and twitches. Annoyingly he still knocks in around in under 80 nearly every round.

 

[mikejohnchapman]

We have lost Dudsbury in Dorset which closes in Q1 2024. This is the second major closure in the area so I suspect a lot of the local clubs will be putting up the "house full" signs in the new year.

 

[Oddsocks]

We have lost Dudsbury in Dorset which closes in Q1 2024. This is the second major closure in the area so I suspect a lot of the local clubs will be putting up the "house full" signs in the new year.

Along with the subs due to demand!

 

[Golfnut1957]

Here is a bit of background to the story.

Renishaw Park Golf Club closes after more than 110 years

Renishaw Park Golf Club near Sheffield says it is no longer viable after membership drained away.

www.bbc.co.uk

I must admit as I sit here at home with our course closed yet again due to "saturated conditions" I do wonder what the future holds for golf/golf clubs if this weather pattern is to become the norm. We always played regardless of the weather, including frost and ice with only snow stopping us, but now the course is so wet, so often, that it is starting to feel as if it is closed more than it is open.

The only positive is that almost all the other local courses are in the same boat (no pun) barring the 3 links, but one of those is full, and the other two couldn't possibly accommodate thousands of displaced golfer should the worst happen.

I don't fear for the immediate future, but the long term future has the potential to be extremely bleak if these trends continue.

 

[jim8flog]

Another club bites the dust​

I thought this was going to be a thread about another putter being consigned to the bin.

 

[Tashyboy]

Couple of lads I worked with at the pit were members there, never got around to having a game with them there. Re members am sure they will find some nice courses nearby Bondhay and Lindrick if you can get in. Not the same though is it

 

[Captain_Black.]

Susceptible to flooding was the way I read it.
If our winters are going to get wetter in the future, courses like these really don't have much of a future.

Sure, pretty much all parkland courses are pretty horrible atm, some more playable than others, but the damage incurred from a big flood must be very time consuming & costly to put right.

As things stand, I think most parkland courses going forward will have to look at extra drainage.

 

[clubchamp98]

Susceptible to flooding was the way I read it.
If our winters are going to get wetter in the future, courses like these really don't have much of a future.

Sure, pretty much all parkland courses are pretty horrible atm, some more playable than others, but the damage incurred from a big flood must be very time consuming & costly to put right.

As things stand, I think most parkland courses going forward will have to look at extra drainage.

It’s not the drainage on the courses that’s the main problem that we have seen!

Its where the water goes when it leaves the course boundaries.

The water is backing up on courses because the waterways are not being looked after that take water away.
This also leads to houses being flooded as well, as rain on top of already full rivers just backs up.

We have had over £50.000 of work cancelled on parkland courses this year.
Some down to cost where clubs are skipping maintenance, but a lot down to weather and floods.

 

[BiMGuy]

It’s not the drainage on the courses that’s the main problem that we have seen!

Its where the water goes when it leaves the course boundaries.

The water is backing up on courses because the waterways are not being looked after that take water away.
This also leads to houses being flooded as well, as rain on top of already full rivers just backs up.

We have had over £50.000 of work cancelled on parkland courses this year.
Some down to cost where clubs are skipping maintenance, but a lot down to weather and floods.

This is a video of the work done at my course over the last couple of months. You can see the mess made by the machinery which will take a lot of work to put right. The mud is a foot or more deep in places.

 

[Billysboots]

It’s not the drainage on the courses that’s the main problem that we have seen!

Its where the water goes when it leaves the course boundaries.

The water is backing up on courses because the waterways are not being looked after that take water away.
This also leads to houses being flooded as well, as rain on top of already full rivers just backs up.

We have had over £50.000 of work cancelled on parkland courses this year.
Some down to cost where clubs are skipping maintenance, but a lot down to weather and floods.

Another big issue with flooding is the tendency to try and divert water courses when new housing and industrial developments are built. It’s many years since I studied geography but it was always my understanding that rivers will follow their natural course, especially when swollen by heavy rainfall, and this is why flood defences seem powerless to prevent major flooding.

 

[clubchamp98]

This is a video of the work done at my course over the last couple of months. You can see the mess made by the machinery which will take a lot of work to put right. The mud is a foot or more deep in places.

Yes you really do need to pick your time to do work like this.
Getting diggers on golf courses is a nightmare.

Nice looking course though!

 

[clubchamp98]

Another big issue with flooding is the tendency to try and divert water courses when new housing and industrial developments are built. It’s many years since I studied geography but it was always my understanding that rivers will follow their natural course, especially when swollen by heavy rainfall, and this is why flood defences seem powerless to prevent major flooding.

Water is the most destructive thing in nature.
Rivers are where they are for a reason.

But they need looking after .
To much building with roofs channels water into drains not spreads it out over a large area.
Its not rocket science ,you need to keep rivers clear..

Its like if a motorway jams up it affects the minor roads around it as traffic has nowhere to go!

A lot of clubs are investing in drainage they don’t need as the water just can’t get away due to things off the golf course.

 

[BiMGuy]

Yes you really do need to pick your time to do work like this.
Getting diggers on golf courses is a nightmare.

Nice looking course though!

For the first 3 or so weeks the weather was perfect. Then it rained a bit.

We had external contractors in doing the work so didn’t have much choice but to let them crack on as they were living on site and moving on to the next job this week.

The contractors have made good as best they can as they have left the course and the green keepers are continuing to tidy areas up.

We’ll have to same on the back 9 next year.

 

[stefanovic]

What about the thickness of the grass these days.
More rain means thicker grass means less roll for the ball.
Okay for the long straight hitters who get more carry.