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Chadwick Manor Golf Club, Knowle, Warwickshire. (1937 - WW2)
Report on the new golf course in September 1937.
Birmingham Daily Gazette Saturday 4 September 1937. With thanks to Reach PLC. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved.
The course was opened in March 1938.
The secretary was K R Frazier, 31 Temple Row, Birmingham, and the professional and green-keeper W Stapp. 18-hole course designed by Harry Colt with a SSS of 75. The club had a membership of 350. Visitors’ fees on introduction were 2/6 a day, 3/6 at weekend and Bank Holiday. The station at Knowle was 2 miles away. Local hotel was the Chadwick Manor.
Layout and yardages of the 18-hole course.
Thanks to Alison Tyers of the Solihull Heritage & Local Studies Service for supplying the following information:
“Chadwick Manor was built in 1875 for Gilbert Wilkes. Between 1883 and 1886 it was sold to Richard Ramsden. In 1900 the building was sold again to Mr Watson. Upon his death in 1931 it was sold again at auction. The estate was very substantial and comprised of several farms, buildings, cottages, tennis courts and parkland. At this point there was no golf course.
At auction the estate was split into lots, one of the lots was the house and the expansive park land. In an advert for the sale on 12th November 1931 the lot described the parkland saying that it would make a first class golf course.
On 19 February 1938 an advert appears in the local papers saying that Chadwick Manor Golf Club Ltd will be opened by Henry Cotton on Saturday 26 March. There is a little description of the hotel which opened a little before this date and of the course. The hotel, which is residential, is described as a luxury hotel surrounded by 290 acres of park land including the golf course. The hotel offered lunches, dinners, teas and suppers; and had an American Bar. It also held Dinner Dances with a live band. Residents had use of the 18 hole course and the club house. It also mentions that the cost of building the course and the club house came to £8,000. It describes the course as being 7,000 yards long. "
From the Birmingham Daily Gazette Wednesday 16 February 1938. Image © Illustrated London News Group. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD
Report on the opening of the course in March 1938.
Coventry Evening Telegraph Monday 28 March 1938. With thanks to Reach PLC. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved.
Result of May 1939 monthly medal; Division 1 - W Davidson, 86-12-74; A E Wynton Evans, 79-2-77; D H Payne, 87-7-80; E Penrose Hall, 94-12-82; Division 2 - S Gregory, 87-21-66; P Greey, 96-24-72; R S Bragg, 98-24-74; G G Rhodes, 98-24-74; J C Courtenay, 94-15-79; R A Hossell, 94-15-79; R M Goodfield, 95-16-79; E Trevor Watson, 105-24-81; W Scutt, 99-16-83; W T Hanna, 99-16-83.
Result of a Stableford competition played in August 1940; W Stapp, 35; E P Hull, 34; A C Hooker, 33; W T Hanna, 33; A Cox, 30; C W Robinson, 28; J Courtenay, 23. Monthly Medal; G F Smith, 86-12-74; R Crowder, 91-14-77; K W Long, 91-14-77; P Hull, 91-12-79; A J Cox, 93-14-79; E Smith, 104-22-82; R S Bragg, 100-17-83.
During the World War 2 the hotel was requisitioned by the War Office and the course was destroyed as part of the “Dig for Victory Campaign”. Although the hotel was eventually reopened in 1949 there were no plans to reopen the course”.
Thanks to Simon Haines for the above images of the former course.
Location of the Chadwick Manor golf course. Grid reference SP20055,74645, co-ordinates 420055,274645.