Club profile: Northenden Golf Club

Less than four years ago the historic Manchester club suffered a fire so devastating that the clubhouse had to be pulled down. In a remarkable turnaround, today it has a magnificent new building that symbolises how outstanding the club is.

Most golf clubs face challenges from time to time yet few have had to tackle those experienced by Northenden GC over its long and illustrious history.

The club has endured fire and flood of biblical proportions, but thanks to the hard work of its committees, members, staff and friends, it has survived everything and today it continues to thrive as one of the Manchester region’s premier venues.

Flooding of the fairways was a regular issue since Northenden’s formation in 1913 due to its location on the banks of the River Mersey, five miles south of Manchester city centre.

The club acted to stem the tide when work began to strengthen riverbank defences in the 1960s. Sadly it was not in time to prevent a massive overflow in 1964 when the river breached an incomplete area of construction and put the clubhouse and course under several feet of water.

The course remained closed until May 1965 when all of the silt deposits had been removed.

A Compulsory Purchase Order in 1969 to build the M63 motorway forced the redesign of the course, but there followed a great uplift in the club’s fortunes. During this period it staged a series of pro-am tournaments featuring high profile names such as Nick Faldo, Sam Torrance, Sandy Lyle, Tony Jacklin, and Greg Norman. The club also forged strong connections to Manchester United Football Club. During that period, Sir Matt Busby became an honorary life member and later his son, Sandy, became president in 2012 and was in office for the club’s centenary year in 2013.

Despite the extensive work to protect the course from the River Mersey, the greens were still prone to hold water after heavy rain so in 2006 the club took the bold decision to rebuild all 18 greens to USPGA standard and to restructure the drainage system at a cost of more than £500,000.

A different challenge arose in October 2014 when the clubhouse was hit by a devastating fire.

More than 20 firefighters spent several hours tackling the blaze and ironically crews used water from the Mersey during a battle to bring the flames under control.

Sadly all was lost – including almost a century’s worth of history and memorabilia – and the remains of the property were pulled down after being branded unsafe by building inspectors.

The tragedy saw neighbouring clubs – Withington, Didsbury, Chorlton and Sale – rally with support, offering Northenden members free use of their facilities until the club was back on its feet.

The fire afforded the club with its new management team and the support and help from its insurer, Zurich, the opportunity to carefully consider the design and function of a new clubhouse, which was opened by Jamie Donaldson, the European Tour winner and successful Ryder Cup golfer.

Today the splendid facility boasts the additional attractions of a custom-built function room catering for 120 people for weddings, parties and funeral receptions, as well as a boardroom, complete with media connectivity, for business meetings.

With different seating and table configurations, the function room can be used to deliver company seminars, presentations and off-site meetings.

The club has also taken the opportunity to install new high quality lockers which members could be proud of.

Industry leader Ridgeway Furniture was selected to carry out the work, installing top quality lockers, dry vanities, wardrobe units, benches and associated changing room furniture.

Roland Harris, director / chairman of the club said: “In the development of the new clubhouse we sought to provide the highest possible specification. The furniture and fittings reflect a modern, contemporary facility and this is particularly so in the changing and locker rooms, where the superb design and layout complement the rest of the clubhouse. By choosing Ridgeway we feel that we achieved a first class result.”

Since its inception Ridgeway has manufactured tens of thousands of lockers that have been installed in some of the most prestigious golf clubs in the world.

The company has seen turnover increase by more than 100 per cent over the past five years and has invested more than £500,000 in a new factory increasing its capacity by over 50 per cent. The facility, at more than 18,000 square feet, means the company is now the UK’s largest dedicated manufacturer of wooden lockers.