Golf club profile: Ingrebourne Links Golf & Country Club

Using soil excavated for a major London rail project, this spectacular golf club opened last summer and already has 1,400 members – with many enjoying the stunning clubhouse, as Andy Waple details

It’s all systems go at Ingrebourne Links Golf & Country Club where work is underway to create one of the finest new golf and leisure resorts in the London area.

Onlookers must have thought it impossible that a piece of land used to provide raw materials for Crossrail and as a disposal site for materials dug out to create the tunnels could be transformed into a facility of the highest quality, boasting a spectacular 27-hole inland links golf course, modern clubhouse and state-of-the-art health club.

But for the land reclamation experts at Ingrebourne Valley (IV) Ltd, such a blank canvas situated only 20 minutes from central London, just off the A13, is providing an ideal opportunity for them to put their skills to best use on what is their largest current project.

After seven years of planning and construction, extensive earthwork movements and considerable investment, the club opened last July and has already attracted more than 1,400 members to its golf and health clubs.

Work on the new course is on-going, with members and guests currently being able to enjoy golf on the nine-hole North course, in addition to testing their game against the nine-hole mini course that opened in 2012, as well as honing their skills on the 30-bay driving range.

Using soil excavated from the major London rail project, the former sandy and gravelly wasteland is being transformed into an exciting venue designed to USPGA standards by the IV Links team working closely with experienced golf course designer Alan Walker, former captain of the PGA and member of the European Institute of Golf Course Architecture (EIGCA).

The first full 18 holes is planned to be in play later this year when the East nine-hole loop joins the North, with the final South section scheduled to open in 2019.

All 27 holes will be characterised by classic links course features such as wide, undulating fairways and subtle inclines and declines around the greens. In keeping with the links tradition, a number of traditional bunker construction techniques are being adopted, including revetted, some featuring the classic sleeper walls.

The greens have been constructed to USGA specifications, and the sand subsoil allows for the free drainage, creating the right environment to grow and maintain fine-leafed grasses that make for smooth, fast putting surfaces.

Environmental protection work is being undertaken and supervised by ECOSA and Natural England. In addition, 150,000 trees, bushes and shrubs are being planted to improve the general wildlife.

The clubhouse, featuring restaurants, a function room and a leisure club with state-of-the-art health facilities, also opened last July.

The club boasts spectacular views over the Essex countryside, the city of London and the rolling fairways.

Members of the health club benefit from connected, personalised and engaging workouts using the latest cardiovascular equipment, strength machines and free weights. They can define targets and check progress using the Boditrax health analyser and enjoy personal training and classes. On top of that they can relax in the hydro-suite, including sauna, steam room and scented drench-showers.

The clubhouse has a bar and club lounge open to both members and non-members, a popular Sunday carvery and a members’ only Brasserie dining club. Its function room with a seating capacity of 200 is available for conferences, business meetings and celebrations.

Another feature is the well-appointed locker and changing rooms installed by industry leader, Ridgeway Furniture, the Bedfordshire company which since 1988 has been designing, manufacturing and installing timber-based furniture including changing room lockers, hotel bedroom furniture, reception desks and spa treatment room furniture through to complete retail shop fit-outs.

Almost 300 lockers and stand-alone benching in a combination of white and walnut have been installed to serve the members and visitors. Their quality and appearance complements the high spec, contemporary surroundings perfectly.

Dominic Eagle, Ingrebourne’s general manager, is delighted with the result: “We selected Ridgeway as they are very competitively priced and the high quality of their products matched our requirements. Ridgeway have done a very good job and I would recommend the company to anybody.”

Since it 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 20 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.