Taunton Vale Golf Club - Closing?

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John Llewellyn

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Heard that the Taunton Vale Golf Club in Somerset is to close this month (November).

Does anyone know what the situation is, has it been reprieved?
 
There was a 11th hour bid apparently but it was refused so it's been bought by a farmer and its going to be turned back into farm land must be gutting for the members. Wasn't a bad course really and now 80 members have joined my home club from there so even slower rounds to come.

http://www.tauntonvalegolf.co.uk
 
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Wasn't a bad course... But was worse than average.

Spoke to an ex member over the weekend who went back for "one final round". They asked for £26. He only left in April. I understand you don't get anything for free but surely any money is welcome...
 
Tab373 said:
There was a 11th hour bid apparently but it was refused so it's been bought by a farmer and its going to be turned back into farm land must be gutting for the members. Wasn't a bad course really and now 80 members have joined my home club from there so even slower rounds to come.

http://www.tauntonvalegolf.co.uk
Click to expand...
T&P or Enmore? Can't see Oake manor picking up 80, and 80 extra would double Vivary park.
 
Joff said:
T&P or Enmore? Can't see Oake manor picking up 80, and 80 extra would double Vivary park.
Click to expand...

Enmore. We needed a few extra but 80 is too many. I might have to leave after being a member for 30 years and only live 10 mins from Pickeridge
 
I played Taunton Vale twice earlier in the year and found it to be an honest park land course with a decent club house and friendly members. It wasn't a bad course and I enjoyed playing it, however it is a shame it's closing especially for the members who will have to move clubs.

I've been told that as a result of the closure we've gained around 40 members at Long Sutton.
 
Tab373 said:
There was a 11th hour bid apparently but it was refused so it's been bought by a farmer and its going to be turned back into farm land must be gutting for the members. Wasn't a bad course really and now 80 members have joined my home club from there so even slower rounds to come.

http://www.tauntonvalegolf.co.uk
Click to expand...
Thought there was no money in farming these days (or so the farmers claim)! :mmm:
 
Wow, some interesting comments.

Thanks to some of you for your sympathy and support. We (speaking on behalf of TVGC members) appreciate it. We also appreciate the clubs near and far who have offered their support, extended offers and welcomed new members from Vale.

So sorry to those of you that a lot of Taunton Vale Golf Club members had no choice but to join another club in Somerset and disrupt some of your tee times so that your rounds are slower! Really, we're sorry the owners sold us out and of course everyone at the Vale wanted the club to close and our social and golfing lives, with the club and course and hearts being ripped out from under our feet!

Because of Vale going under and the influx of members, some local clubs will benefit from new members - paying their membership fees, adding to competition prize money, putting money over the bar for food and drink and in the golf shops. Because of our demise, some clubs will flourish.

Not only have the members, some who have been there since it opened, lost their home club, staff are losing their jobs and the pro and assistant pros are losing their livelihoods.

Vale members have been treated abysmally by the owners and haven't had a choice in this matter. As fellow golfers please don't do the same. You can choose what you say and whether or not to welcome the new members who will help secure the future of many other local clubs, and maybe even yours. Please - have some sympathy folks.
 
The owners denied receiving an offer from a potential buyer who wanted to keep the club and course open and develop it. Instead they chose to sell it off as farmland. The club was only on the market as a golf club for four months, but a relative of the owner at Humberts in Taunton had a sale lined up with a local rich farmer long before.

£26 for a round of golf, compared to many other golf clubs, is very reasonable and much more affordable than many other clubs to pay and play. Apart from Cannington, the club was rare in that it had a good 9 hole too, a great course for the young and old, for the beginners and those who could no longer play a full 18 hole course.

Most who have played at the club over the last year, members and visitors, have said how much the course has improved and how good the course was, ironically, the best it's ever been since it opened. It was, and still is for a little while longer, a beautiful course. It's an absolute travesty that the course is going to be ripped up.
 
Why not come and play and check the course out for yourself while you still have the chance, and you can get a card at the same time :-)
 
Wow, I hope those of you moaning about the extra members you have gained from the closure of Taunton Vale dont ever suffer the same fate that we Taunton Vale members have. The course has gone from strength to strength and the membership has been the most friendly I have known. What a loss to the world of golf and we are absolutely reeling not only from the closure of the course but the way we have been treated by the owners. I wish all the members good luck wherever they join and I hope that you will find the same welcome always given by the Taunton Vale members.
I agree with Newbie, play the course whilst you can, it is a gem of a course with variety and quality.
 
Stevie said:
Wow, I hope those of you moaning about the extra members you have gained from the closure of Taunton Vale dont ever suffer the same fate that we Taunton Vale members have. The course has gone from strength to strength and the membership has been the most friendly I have known. What a loss to the world of golf and we are absolutely reeling not only from the closure of the course but the way we have been treated by the owners. I wish all the members good luck wherever they join and I hope that you will find the same welcome always given by the Taunton Vale members.
I agree with Newbie, play the course whilst you can, it is a gem of a course with variety and quality.
Click to expand...

I started this thread.

I was in a similar position around thirty years ago when my local club suffered a similar fate to TVGC. It's devastating, so I fully understand how members feel when it happens.

I decided to try and record the short history of the club by gathering together as much information as possible about the course, the club, and its members. It was an attempt to preserve the history so that the club and everybody associated with it would never be forgotten.

I still carry on recording clubs and courses that close on the free Golf's Missing Links website www.golfsmissinglinks.co.uk This is why I appealed for a scorecard and if possible pictures of the TVGC course.

Unfortunately, for various reasons, the closure of clubs and courses is not uncommon nowadays, it happens throughout the UK. I now live in Wales and would find it impossible to visit every site although I try to visit as many as I can.
 
A Valer said:
Wow, some interesting comments.

Thanks to some of you for your sympathy and support. We (speaking on behalf of TVGC members) appreciate it. We also appreciate the clubs near and far who have offered their support, extended offers and welcomed new members from Vale.

So sorry to those of you that a lot of Taunton Vale Golf Club members had no choice but to join another club in Somerset and disrupt some of your tee times so that your rounds are slower! Really, we're sorry the owners sold us out and of course everyone at the Vale wanted the club to close and our social and golfing lives, with the club and course and hearts being ripped out from under our feet!

Because of Vale going under and the influx of members, some local clubs will benefit from new members - paying their membership fees, adding to competition prize money, putting money over the bar for food and drink and in the golf shops. Because of our demise, some clubs will flourish.

Not only have the members, some who have been there since it opened, lost their home club, staff are losing their jobs and the pro and assistant pros are losing their livelihoods.

Vale members have been treated abysmally by the owners and haven't had a choice in this matter. As fellow golfers please don't do the same. You can choose what you say and whether or not to welcome the new members who will help secure the future of many other local clubs, and maybe even yours. Please - have some sympathy folks.
Click to expand...

Well said.
 
Listen, I'm sad that you're closing, and I'm not complaining about the extra members at T&P. We've picked up 60 odd as of 3 weeks ago. I've not played at Taunton Vale in ten years and I think I'm basing my experience on that. (And from comments from a couple of members that we have picked up, that they were told at your last AGM) The pro (or assistant) treated me like a piece of muck on his shoe. Even asked me to 'not use any other club but a putter on the greens'.

I understand being in a club is a community, I hope you find a new one.
The £26 thing is a bit of a joke as you can buy a tee-off time from one of the online tee booking sites for £9.
 
And I know this as I was going to book a mini 'one last time' round for me and a few mates.
 
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