Council to resurrect closed golf club
A municipal golf club that closed down in early 2011 is set to re-open in the next few weeks following interest in the site and anger from local residents that the venue is a magnet for crime.
Goldenhill Golf Club in Stoke-on-Trent closed in February after operator Jack Barker Golf Company fell into arrears amid disputes with the council about waste management and course improvements.
Since then potential buyers have approached Stoke-on-Trent City Council, while the club has attracted thieves, fly-tippers and arsonists.
With pressure from a local residents’ association, the council has stated that it will look for a new tenant in early 2012 and resurrect the golf course.
Councillor Ruth Rosenau said: “The intention is to market the site for re-use as a golf course in the new year.
“We have already had some initial interest in the site, but we need to formally market Goldenhill to test the demand with a view to securing a new tenant.”
Resident Tom Simpson said: “The course needs people who are interested in operating it as a golf course to get it back to its former glory.
“It used to be a great course that was used by many local people, but it has since become dirty and unpleasant.
“Although the course is closed, we’ve been asking residents to keep an eye out on any vandalism.
“It’s a shame to see that it’s still closed, but I have every belief that if the council is to re-open the course then they will find suitable owners.”
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Dont know why just felt like exploring it was pretty good to be fair from 9 years of nature
I remember working at this golf course as first assisstant greenskeeper back in maybe 2008. Jack Barker ruined it. Only the front 9 were open the back 9 were that over grown you couldn’t get the gang mowers on them, despite every effort to re open the back 9, I think we only managed 2 maybe 3 fairways and greens. Jack Barker had a contract with the A500 development at the time and took all the bricks, clay and sand from the A500 redevelopment and dumped it on the 7th, 8th and 9th fairways in a bid to remodel the course, but water doesn’t drain through clay, so jack barker brought in a 180 tonne tracked front excavator which were drove over the fairways and the 7th green to dig V-ditches everywhere in a bid to solve the drainage problem he created…. these v-ditches had white out of bounds markers all along them which made play pointless. Of all the 5000 tones of clay dumped on it while I was there and what ever after I left…. as a highly quallified greenskeeper….. goldenhill g.c is beyond saving unless you had 100’s of millions of pounds to first remove all that was dumped on it. As an example the average golf course green with irrigation & Drainage and a gold bar 5 grass seed mix sitting on 30inches of 70/30 rootzone soil is valued roughly at £7million in its complete state, yeah fair enough is doesn’t cost that much to build it… but if you can value a green at that much, just think what you need under them 30inches of perfect soil…… its never happening.
Sounds like a familiar story…..uncannily like Jack Barker and Basildon Golf Course!!!
Now let me see….what is the common denominator?