Historic golf club’s clubhouse destroyed by major fire

A 117-year-old golf club’s clubhouse has been severely damaged in a major fire.

Lutterworth Golf Club in Leicestershire experienced the fire on Saturday, May 1.

Image from Facebook (Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Lutterworth Station)

A number of people in the area called 999 after they spotted the fire, and around 40 firefighters were called to tackle the blaze.

Image from Facebook (Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Lutterworth Station)

The single storey clubhouse building, measuring about 60 metres by 20 metres, was gutted in the blaze, which was already “well alight” by the time the first crews arrived on the scene, according to reports.

The fire service said on its log: “On arrival, incident commander confirmed the building was involved in fire and well alight.

“Further fire engines and the aerial ladder were requested to assist with fire fighting.

“Two main water jets, water from the aerial ladder and two hose reels were in use to fight the fire.”

Image from Facebook (Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Lutterworth Station)

Leicestershire Police were also in attendance, along with gas and electricity engineers to isolate the supplies to the building.

The fire service said the cause of the blaze was now under investigation. Crews were still at the scene this morning.

The golf club posted on Facebook: “Sadly, there has been a major fire at Lutterworth Golf Club, Saturday 1st May.

“The course and club will be closed until further notice.”

The captain of Lutterworth Golf Club, Toby Deas, said: “We are completely devastated.

“We have lost so much history, so much memorabilia, so many treasured photographs in this fire.

“Buildings can be replaced – but our history and heritage is totally irreplaceable, it’s priceless.

“In the hallway lobby we had dozens of photos of years and years of past presidents stretching back to the start. They have all gone.

“We will rebuild and we will bounce back.

“We have had so much support already from our members, other local golf clubs, the general public. We have been overwhelmed by the numbers of calls, texts and messages we’ve had from people.

“I also want to say a massive thank you to the 999 services – the fire service and the police.

“A fire investigation is under way – as soon as this is completed the course will re-open to members.

Image from Facebook (Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Lutterworth Station)

“The club’s directors and officials met late on Sunday afternoon to put the recovery plans in place to ensure that our loyal members can continue to enjoy playing the course while we work with our insurers on providing temporary facilities as soon as possible and a permanent replacement in the longer term.

“The directors and club officials are all fully committed to the mammoth task ahead to replace our clubhouse and facilities.”

A Leicestershire Police spokeswoman said: “No one was injured in the incident.

“Enquiries are continuing to determine the exact cause of the fire.”

Some reports suggest that arson is the suspected cause.

Image from Facebook (Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Lutterworth Station)

This is the second major fire at a UK golf club in just over a week. Marsden Park Golf Club’s clubhouse was attacked by arsonists in late April.

This is also at least the fourth major fire at a UK golf club since the start of this year – with the previous two also happening just a few days apart.

Image from Facebook (Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service, Lutterworth Station)

In early February, Uphall Golf Club in West Lothian was devastated by a fire that saw 10 fire appliances arrive at the scene, and four days later Boringdon Park Golf Club in Plymouth was also hit by a fire that saw seven fire crews battle the inferno for several hours.