Brent Valley Golf Club is a golf club located in

Hanwell Hanwell () is a town in the London Borough of Ealing, in the historic County of Middlesex, England. It is about 1.5 miles west of Ealing Broadway and had a population of 28,768 as of 2011. It is the westernmost location of the London post t ...

West London West London is the western part of London, England, north of the River Thames, west of the City of London, and extending to the Greater London boundary. The term is used to differentiate the area from the other parts of London: North London ...

. The club is a member of the

English Golf Union England Golf is the governing body for male and female amateur golf in England. It represents over 1,900 golf clubs with over 740,000 members and is affiliated to The R&A, the joint global governing body of golf. It was formed in 2012 as a merg ...

and is based on the Brent Valley Golf course, which is owned by Ealing Council. The club also belongs to the National Association of Public Golf Clubs and Courses. In 2022 it was named Middlesex Golf Club of the Year. The club is located within the large Brent Valley Golf Course, adjacent to further green open spaces Brent Valley Park, Brent Lodge Park, and West Middlesex Golf Course in

Dormers Wells Dormers Wells or Dormer's Wells is an urban community or neighbourhood in west London, England consisting of a grid of mostly semi-detached or terraced houses with gardens and small parks: in the London Borough of Ealing, and the Southall post t ...

. The golf course inspired the name of the two adjacent residential tower blocks, Gleneagles Tower and St Andrews Tower.

History

The club was founded in 1909 by Albert Toley (1855–1924). It was previously called Springfield Park Golf Club, but its name was changed when the course was expanded from 9 to 18 holes. In the 1800s the land on which Brent Valley was later to stand was owned by the Rector G.H. Glasse. The course was designed by JH Taylor in the early 1900s. At the first annual club dinner held on 5 April 1910 at the Trocodero, Hanwell membership was reported to be over 300. In 1933, the club won the Middlesex CGU Coronation Bowl in the second year it was played. In 1938, Ealing Council acquired the course to preserve it from being developed and a lease with Brent Valley Golf Club was signed. The new public course was opened on 20 July 1938 by the Mayor of Ealing. In 1966 the old clubhouse, the "Dublin House" was demolished by the council and the present one built and the course was remodeled to the present format. It was believed that the remodelling was carried out by

Peter Alliss Peter Alliss (28 February 1931 – 5 December 2020) was an English professional golfer, television presenter, commentator, author and golf course designer. Following the death of Henry Longhurst in 1978, he was regarded by many as the "Voice of g ...

but he has stated that this was not the case. In 2009 the club celebrated its centenary, which was marked by a ceremonial tee-off by the then Mayor of Ealing, Barbara Yerolemo

The course is now run by a private contractor Everyone Active as of 1 October 2014, through a contract with Ealing Council. In 2022 it was named Middlesex Golf Club of the Year. File:Brent Valley clubhouse c 1910.jpg, The Brent Valley clubhouse (Dublin House) c. 1910 File:Golf by the Mayor.jpg, The Mayor of Ealing officially opens Brent Valley Golf Course on 20 July 1938 after it was acquired by Ealing Council. File:Albert Toley.jpeg, Albert Toley

Albert Toley

Albert Toley was Brent Valley Golf Club’s founder and first President, in 1909. Born in 1855 in Devon, he lived in The Grove in Hanwell from 1906, which it is believed was later used as Brent Valley’s club house and later renamed Dublin House. Albert was a public benefactor and property developer. But his first post in London was as a teacher at the United Westminster School near Victoria Station aged 17. In 1876 he took over the school’s sports and found that the school lacked playing fields. He had the idea of renting land, in Willesden, for the school’s games and sub-letting some of it to local sports clubs. Sensing demand from other clubs, he repeated the exercise with other land. So successful was the venture that he gave up his teaching job and acquired other sites. At one point he was managing over . One of the plots of land he acquired was later to become Brent Valley Golf Course, where he founded the club. Although he managed many other sites and founded other clubs, Brent Valley held a special place in his heart since he lived in The Grove, which was on the course, and he was the Club’s first president. Local newspapers report him playing in matches for Brent Valley, alongside his son Frank, against other local clubs with a handicap of 9 at the age of 64. Albert Toley died on 6 September 1924.

The Course

Brent Valley is a traditional parkland style golf course and while not the longest course in the area at 5446yards is designed to offer a good level of golf for all handicaps. The use of the natural land shape in the design of many of the holes with the addition strategically placed bunkers and hazards to challenge players of all levels.

References

External links

* Club websit
https://brentvalley.co.uk
* Instagra

* Twitte

{{coord, 51.51597, N, 0.34020, W, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Golf clubs and courses in London Hanwell