Shropshire Magazine

Clubhouse facilities are impressive.

Neil Thomas gets into the swing of things at a leading country golf club

The late Bob Hope once told a slightly risqué gag of a man stranded on a desert island of which the only other inhabitant is a scantily clad, stunningly beautiful young woman. She smiles seductively and asks: “Would you like to play around?”

His eyes light up. “Really?” he answers, barely able to contain his delight.

“Have you got a bag of clubs?”

Hope was himself a golf fanatic and the quip was intended to show how obsessed with the game some people can become, although Tiger Woods’s confessions may have slightly compromised the joke.

For many, though, once golf has you in its grip, it can take over. You find yourself spending every spare moment on the course, or at the practice range, experimenting with different clubs, balls, grips and swings in an endless quest to slice a stroke off your best round, bring that handicap down and cut down on the number of balls you end up hunting for in the bushes.

It’s not unnatural that thoughts should turn to golf at this time of year, for long and hopefully sunny days are in the offing and the world’s great players will be on our television screens over the next few weeks, with the US Open at Pebble Beach, California, this month, while in July the 150th Open Championship is celebrated at the ‘home of golf’, St Andrews.

Blanket coverage means that novices will be tempted to try their hand at the great game and, like as not, be caught in its spell.

Ironically, given the game’s enduring appeal with television audiences, clubs across the country have been fighting falling memberships in recent years. Contributing factors include an explosion in the number of courses since the mid 1980s, the opening up of more and more clubs to non-members, meaning players have the chance to pit their skills against a variety of terrains, the trend for busier lives edging out time-consuming leisure pursuits and, with the country in recession for the past two years, the sheer cost of the game.

Shropshire and its borders have not been immune to these vicissitudes so it was particularly encouraging to visit Lilleshall Hall, a club which is thriving thanks to astute management, which has seen it successfully adapt to the demands of the 21st century.

It was terrific to listen to the optimism of club chairman Colin Bennett, secretary Alan Marklew and current captain Graham Davis, who are all extremely positive about the health of the game at club level.

Alan Marklew, secretary; Rob Bluck, professional; Graham Davis, captain; and Colin Bennett, chairman.

Future

They have good cause to be upbeat at Lilleshall Hall, where there is an excellent membership of 650, including a 66-strong junior section which bodes well for the future. The club subscribes to a Young Master Golfers scheme, which sees junior players studying the game and even sitting examinations.

“We see that as investing in the future of golf,” says Alan.

Equality for women players is another area where Lilleshall Hall has moved away from the game’s hoary — and wholly indefensible — traditions.

“We have equality of tariff so that the ladies can come along and play on the same terms as the men,” says Alan.

“Some 10 to 15 per cent of membership of clubs is women and yet in many places ladies are marginalised, not allowed on the course on certain days and so on. We believe women members should be on an equal footing with the men,” adds Colin.

The club’s committee also realised that the worst world recession since the 1930s might be hitting some members particularly hard, and gave them the opportunity of a sabbatical rather than giving up their membership.

“People say this is a friendly club. Members come from all walks of life and backgrounds and new members are made to feel very welcome,” says Alan.

Mentioning the recession, the committee has confronted it head-on by continuing its policy of investing in the club.

“It is a members’ club not a company bent on making a profit, so we feel that members’ money should be reinvested in the club for their benefit,” says Alan.

There are tangible illustrations of this, most notably the £600,000 state-of-the-art clubhouse that we are chatting in, opened in 2004 to replace a much-loved but antiquated wooden building. One of its many impressive features is a plush dining area that in appearance would not look out of place in a good hotel or restaurant.

There is an ongoing programme of improvement of the course, which has included drainage work to give better all-year playing conditions, and a new water feature that will enhance Lilleshall Hall’s already considerable scenic beauty.

And as the world grapples with climate change, this innovative club is playing its part with an eco-friendly policy drawn up after consultation with the Carbon Trust. Changes to lighting, insulation and other such measures have reduced the club’s carbon footprint and saved up to £6,000 on its energy costs.

Talking of contributions to society, like many clubs Lilleshall Hall is committed to helping good causes, exemplified through the captains’ charities.

“The lady captain Chris Thomas is supporting Hope House children’s hospice and my charity is Compton Hospice,” says Graham.

Alan, Colin and Graham are unanimous in their praise of the club’s professional Rob Bluck, who has won tournaments on the Challenge Tour. He spent eight years at Kings Norton in Warwickshire before working for two years at the Leadbetter Academy in Hamburg, Germany. He has been at Lilleshall Hall nearly five years.

The club has its origins in the 1930s when the land, once part of the Duke of Sutherland’s estate, was developed by its owner Mr Herbert Ford. It was designed by world famous golf course architect Harry S Colt — the man behind top venues like Wentworth, Sunningdale and Royal St George’s — in two stages. The first nine was typical parkland, while the back nine was built through woodlands. This was a massive undertaking involving 60 men spending a year on the clearance of 5,000 trees from what was once primeval forest. There followed the colossal task of filling in huge craters, levelling the ground and constructing greens and fairways with the cost spiralling to £1,000 a hole.

The 5,813-yard, par-68 course, is set in 165 acres and is characterised by its tight fairways cutting through mature trees, and the small, fast, undulating and tricky greens.

Shropshire’s two major winners, Sandy Lyle (Open 1985 and Masters 1988) and Ian Woosnam (Masters 1991) played at Lilleshall Hall as amateurs, while the club’s most famous playing member was Peter Baker, a member of Europe’s 1993 Ryder Cup team.

Talking of the Ryder Cup, Lilleshall Hall will stage its own version in the run-up to this year’s event at Celtic Manor in the autumn.

“We have 120 people playing over three days, with players going into a draw to decide whether they are Europe or America,” explains Graham.

“Everyone is introduced on the tee and they wear replica kits of their team.”

Peter Baker — who else? — will conduct the draw.

Baker, Lyle and Woosnam are not the only famous sportsmen to have graced the clubhouse at Lilleshall Hall.

Alan, who has been secretary for the past five years, joined the club back in 1966. Like 2010, it was a football World Cup year. The England squad’s training camp was at what is now the National Sports Centre at Lilleshall — next door to the golf course.

“The story goes that the players were having a meal in the golf club restaurant when a chap went in with an autograph book and asked ‘which one of you is Jimmy Greaves?’ Needless to say he was asked to leave.”

The invigorating air of Lilleshall Hall clearly worked wonders for Sir Alf Ramsey’s team, though. A few weeks later they were crowned world champions. . .

For further details on Lilleshall Hall contact 01952 604776, email honsec@lhgc.entadsl.com or visit www.lilleshallhallgolfclub.co.uk

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