Club History

Stanedge Golf Club – A Brief History

The ‘Hidden Little Gem’ that is Stanedge Golf Club was founded in 1934 on land originally owned by the Robinson’s family of Chesterfield. For many years it remained a very small, yet tight nine hole golf course, which was both run and maintained solely by it’s members. Although the course was short in length, having an 18 hole par of only 64 (with the 18 holes being made up of 10 par 4’s and 8 par 3’s) it was very tight, with several of the par 4’s having out of bounds on both sides of the fairway – for example before the trees, which now divide the 3rd/12th and 8th/17th fairway, were planted in the early 1980’s, there was a small ditch dividing the two fairways and if you crossed it, irrespective of which hole you were playing you found yourself out of bounds. Similarly, the 6th/15th hole (then also a par 4) had out of bounds on both left and right, as the practice ground was then on the left of this fairway.

In the early days, the order of the holes was also different, with the 1st/10th being what is now the 7th/16th and the 9th/18th being what is now the 6th/15th. The course was changed to its present set up in the 1970’s. This was around the same time, with the club looking to expand a little, that the then very small clubhouse was extended to its present, yet still modest, size.

In 1995 the club managed to buy the course (from the then landowners) together with some additional land, which included two fields in the middle of the course and three fields to the right of the 6th/15th fairway. Around the same time an attempt was made to purchase the two fields to the right of the 1st/10th hole, unfortunately the asking price was too much for the club to afford them.

However, following the purchase of the club, plans were drawn up and work began on some substantial developments of the course, bearing in mind that everything was being done with limited resources, the changes made radically changed Stanedge. As a result of the changes made, the par for the course was increased by 5 strokes from 64 to 69, by extending the 5th/14th from a long par 3 into a very difficult par 4, the 6th/15th from a tight par 4 into a long par 5 and by introducing an extra (tenth hole) – the tricky par 4 13th, which meant that the short par 3 4th hole (Stanedge’s signature hole) was from then on, only played once in the round. Additional tees were put in and existing tees were extended. The 7th/16th tee was moved forward and to the left slightly, this move allowed the then very small car park to be almost doubled in size and the practice area was moved from the left of the 6th/15th fairway into one of the newly purchased fields to the right of the 6th/15th fairway.

One of the biggest changes made was the installation of a sprinkler system to the greens, allowing them to be watered as required. In the early days at Stanedge watering of the greens was a big problem, with water having to be transported to the greens via a water bowser; this didn’t happen very frequently and often meant that the greens weren’t cut as short as they should have been, in case the grass became burnt.

Plans were also drawn up to extend the course still further, with planning consent being obtained for two new holes to be developed in the middle fields. Unfortunately, the economic climate started to change, costs went up, membership started to level off and the plans had to be shelved – hopefully one day the economic climate will change again and these plans will be able to be put in to practice.

In the mid 2000’s Stanedge employed full-time ground staff for the first time, in the 20 or so years previous to this, the club had employed a local contractor who cut the greens twice a week (on a Tuesday and a Friday) additional course maintenance was still done by volunteer members. The benefits of employing full-time ground staff began to show pretty quickly, the greens are now cut more frequently and a lot more general maintenance is able to be done around the course, helped it must be said, by the purchase of newer and better green-keeping equipment.

As a result of the additional work put in on the course in the last few years, which has involved bunkers being enlarged, tee’s being moved and/or extended, additional trees being planted and a lot of additional drainage being installed, Stanedge is now a very well maintained course with excellent greens, which offers a tough, but not a harsh challenge to one and all.

As you can see from this brief potted history, Stanedge Golf Club has evolved quite a lot over the past 77 years, but its members have always ensured that it has operated within its means, which has meant that some of the more radical plans to develop the course further have had to be shelved – hopefully, not for ever.
 
So, whether you’ve played the course before or not, why not come along and give it a (or another) try? I’m sure you’ll find the green fees are more than comparable to other courses in the area and you’ll be assured of a warm welcome at what has become known as ‘The Friendliest Golf Club in Derbyshire’. You never know, you might enjoy the experience so much that you’ll want to become a member of our friendly little club.

Andy Hesketh
Chairman - Stanedge Golf Club
March 2011.