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St Helens & District Golf Club. (1892 - WW1)
The club was founded in 1892.
A prize for a set of golf clubs presented by the president of the St Helens & District Golf Club, Mr H Seton Kerr, M.P, was played on the Grange Park course in May 1893. Semi-final results; Dr Gray beat S S Pennington and Dr J Cotton beat H Gamble. In the final Dr Gray beat Dr Cotton.
Below is the result of a match played at Penketh against Mersey Golf Club on Saturday 28th April 1900.
| Mersey Golf Club | St Helens Golf Club | ||
| Rev H R Wild & Dr Peacocks | 0 | W J Glover & Dr McKechnie | 0 |
| F Williamson & E Parry | 0 | Dr Gray & Dr Unsworth | 3 |
| F W Gilbert & H Hatton | 10 | J Hammill & Mr Openheim | 0 |
| W Johnson Johnson & F W Wareing | 7 | Dr Masson & Dr Basset | 0 |
| J Bernard & J Fairclough | 13 | Dr Harris & T Varley | 0 |
| 30 | 3 |
in April 1903 Alexander Herd of Huddersfield, the Open Champion, and William McEwen the Formby professional, played an exhibition match over the St Helens course, Herd winning easily.
The following is from the 1905 Nisbet's Golf Yearbook; Membership of 170; Station - Thalto Heath, 5 minutes; Hon. Secretary - W S Dromgoole, Denton's Green, St Helens; Captain - W G Glover; Entrance Fee £2//2s and Subs £2/2s; Terms for visitors 1s a day; Record for the course - L Hammill, 74. The course is one of 9 holes. The subsoil of sandstone makes play possible all year round. The greens are well kept and the natural hazards have been well supplemented with artificial bunkers.
There were joint secretaries at the St Helens & District Golf Club in 1905/6; Dr William Challinor MA., Cantab and W S Drumgoole. Headquarters were at the Grange Park Hotel, Prescot Road, St Helens.
At the annual meeting in February 1913 it was stated that the passed year had been a very successful one. The formal opening of the extended course would take place on 26th April when Edward Ray and Harry Vardon would play a match. The links were situated on the top of Eccleston Hill between St Helens and Prescot, nine-holes had been added.
The professional from 1907 to 1916 was *C McGowran and from 1922 to 1931 H Large.
*Following information courtesy of "The PGA Remembers" project - Christopher Anthony McGowran; Elected PGA Member 1907. Northern Section; Regiment - Rifleman: 1st/5th Battalion South Lancashire Regiment; Service Number 5012; Died - killed in action 9th September 1916 age 32; Buried - Thiepval Memorial. Pier and Face 7A and 7B; Notes - Born in Dublin in 1884 his last recorded club was St Helens & District where under his supervision the course was extended to 18 holes. Enlisting in the South Lancashire Regiment he fell in action in the Battle of the Somme in September 1916.
Course to be closed in April 1917.
Ormskirk Advertiser Thursday 15th April 1917. With thanks to Trinity Mirror. Digitised by Findmypast Newspaper Archive Limited. All rights reserved.
The Ordnance Survey maps below show the interesting development of the club and course.
Above is the location of the St Helens course on a 1908 O.S map. © Crown Copyright {1908}
By 1927 the St Helens course was either side of the Prescot Road. © Crown Copyright {1927}
By the 1930s the course to the north was marked as Grange Park Golf Course, the current club. The original early course of the St Helens Club to the south of the road had been completely built over. See Google Map below.