Horsforth Golf Club is a golf club in the town of

Horsforth Horsforth is a town and civil parishes in England, civil parish within the City of Leeds, in West Yorkshire, England, lying about five miles north-west of Leeds city centre. Historically a village within the West Riding of Yorkshire, it had a p ...

West Yorkshire West Yorkshire is a metropolitan and ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and Humber Region of England. It is an inland and upland county having eastward-draining valleys while taking in the moors of the Pennines. West Yorkshire came into exi ...

, England. It is located next to

Leeds Bradford Airport Leeds Bradford Airport is located in Yeadon, in the City of Leeds Metropolitan District in West Yorkshire, England, about northwest of Leeds city centre, and about northeast from Bradford city centre. It serves Leeds and Bradford and th ...

. It was established in 1906 and celebrated its centenary in 2006.

History

Horsforth Golf Club was formed by a number of residents called together by Messrs. T. Clough and H. Whitfield at a house owned by Mr W.H. Billington on Outwood Lane in Horsforth on 8 November 1906. On 8 February 1907 it was agreed to take a lease on a site on the Rawdon estate from Walter Egerton John Green-Emmott, of

Emmott Hall Emmott Hall was a country house in the village of Laneshawbridge, Colne, Lancashire, England. It stood on high ground two and a half miles east of Colne near the junction of the River Laneshaw and the Hullown Beck, facing south towards the Wyco ...

, at a rent of £140 per year. The club was formally named ''Horsforth Golf Club'' at the first General meeting of the Club on 7 March 1907. Sir William Duncan, Bart, of Horsforth Hall was invited to become first President and Mr H Whitfield was appointed the first Captain. The clubhouse had its opening ceremony on 10 August 1907. The course was initially laid out by the Greens Committee and the first Professional and Green-keeper, Mr T Tate. The course designer

Alister MacKenzie Alister MacKenzie (30 August 1870 – 6 January 1934) was a golf course architect whose course designs span four continents. Originally trained as a surgeon, MacKenzie served as a civilian physician with the British Army during the Boer War ...

visited the course in 1913 and made various recommendations for improvements and a scheme for bunkering the course. The original clubhouse was destroyed by fire on 26 January 1913 and was rebuilt on its current site, reopening on 6 September 1913 at a cost of £1450. It was reported in the ''

Leeds Mercury The ''Leeds Mercury'' was a newspaper published in Leeds, West Yorkshire, England. It was published from 1718 to 1755 and again from 1767. Initially it consisted of 12 pages and cost three halfpennies. In 1794 it had a circulation of about 3,00 ...

'' that the ''

Suffragette Movement A suffragette was a member of an activist women's organisation in the early 20th century who, under the banner "Votes for Women", fought for women's suffrage, the right to vote in public elections in the United Kingdom. The term refers in part ...

'' also caused damage to the club on 20 February 1913 affecting the eighteenth green and setting fire to a moveable shed used by the members as temporary accommodation. Vote for Women leaflets were left, ''leaving no doubt as to who the perpetrators were''. In 1925 James Braid was invited to inspect the course, which he did on 19 March 1925, and provided a report for a fee of £14-5-0d. Many of his suggestions were adopted. In 1964, the golf course architect Frank Pennink was asked to appraise the course and help its redevelopment after new land was bought in compensation for loss of land taken over by the adjacent airport. Brown B, Dickinson AK and Gill R (2005) Horsforth Golf Club Centenary Brochure, p.36-40

Scorecard

Gallery

File:Aeroplane landing at LBA.jpg, An aeroplane landing at Leeds Bradford Airport, taken from the golf course File:Horsforth Golf Club.jpg, Horsforth Golf Club looking down 18th fairway

References

{{Reflist, 30em

External links

Official site
Golf clubs and courses in Yorkshire 1906 establishments in England Horsforth Sport in Leeds