Historic Yorkshire club plans major upgrade

A golf club in Yorkshire is set to undergo a major revamp involving importing soil and redesigning its course in order to resolve drainage issues.

Pike Hills Golf Club plans to import 352,000 cubic metres of uncontaminated soil and inert material to reprofile the golf course to bring about year-round golfing.

The 118-year-old club has submitted a planning application to City of York Council that states the venue has historically suffered drainage problems in low lying areas, which have been exacerbated by its clay-based underlying soils.

It said: “This issue renders parts of the golf course unusable for several months throughout the year and on occasion the course must close entirely because it is completely unplayable. It is not sustainable for the golf course to continue having to close or for holes to be unplayable.”

If approved, the club envisages work will start in 2023, and will involve a redesign of the course which would use 7.7 hectares of farmland.

Pike Hills Golf Club. Image from Facebook

“In total, five holes are affected on the existing golf course, plus three new holes in the field to the north and the practice area is to be totally upgraded,” it explained.

“To develop the proposed new features, it will be necessary to cause some disturbance on the existing golf course. The development would be constructed over four phases.

“The proposed development would introduce new playing areas and the redesign of the golf course will improve maintenance as it will allow modern maintenance machinery to access additional areas of the golf course.”

There would also be new landscaping, and blocks of woodland would be planted, with plant species selected to reflect the existing species on site and nearby “to create an environment over the course which acts as a natural extension to the existing environmental features.”