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St Asaph Golf Club, Denbighshire. (1920s)
St Asaph Golf Club, Flintshire was first mentioned at a meeting at the Church House in May 1923.
At this meeting a committee was elected to assess the feasibility of a course for the city. A week later it was decided that the scheme would go ahead and a nine hole course would be constructed with the hope of extending to eighteen holes. From June 1923 the subs were: gents £2/2/0, ladies £1/1/0, juniors under 16 10/6d. Anyone joining after June would have to pay an entrance fee of £1/1/0. Mr Blencoe was elected Captain of the club and the secretary was Captain R J Griffith, who was manager at the LC and M Bank in St Asaph.
The course construction was soon underway, it took just three weeks! It was reported that the greens “are a little rough at the moment“. It was situated on the banks of the River Elwy between the river and the Rhyl Road. The clubhouse was to be part of the newly opened “Service Garage” on the Rhyl Road.
There was great confidence in the success of the club from the start. The course was opened in June after a slight delay due to adverse weather. The opening was performed by one of the vice presidents, Mr David Gamble JP. There was a very enthusiastic membership, and club competitions and inter club matches were a popular feature of the club.
From the early days the course suffered badly from flooding and this had a large bearing on the short life of the club; it disappeared in the 1930s.
The year 1923:-
A public meeting was held in the Church House on Monday evening 7th May 1923 to discuss the formation of a Golf Club for the City. The Rev W M Williams M.A, Vicar Choral, presided over a good attendance and explained the proposals at some length. Many questions were raised and eventually a committee consisting of the Rev W M Williams, Messrs Joseph Lloyd, T Evans, R J Griffith, W Buxton, N Webster and I Edwards were appointed to report to a further meeting to be held at the Church House this Thursday evening.
At the meeting on the Thursday evening at the Church House Mr Joseph Lloyd was in the chair, he gave the report of the committee that the scheme had been investigated and found practicable. From the financial standpoint the committee recommended that the subscription for all who joined before the 7th June would be; gents £2/2/0, ladies £1/1/0, juniors under 16 10/6. After that date an Entrance Fee of £1/1/0 would be necessary in each case.
It was recommended that a nine-hole course should be opened to commence with, but there was every prospect of the course being enlarged to full size in the near future.
The report was accepted and the following were elected to act on the clubs executive committee; Rev W M Williams M.A. Vicar Choral, chairman; Joseph Lloyd, T Evans M.A, B.D, W H Buxton, N Webster, J Edwards, R S Blencowe M.A and J Barnwell.
Mr Blencowe was to be Captain of the Club. Capt R J Griffith, Manager of the L C And M Bank, St Asaph was appointed Hon. Secretary and Treasurer, and would be pleased to receive the names of all intending members who should apply to him for membership cards.
The new course, the construction of which had already commenced would be located along the banks of the River Elwy between the River and the Rhyl Road near to the newly erected “Services” Garage. It was hoped the course would be officially opened to the public on Thursday 7th June. The committee hoped their efforts in connection with the club would meet with the full support of the locals.
It had been hoped that the work of preparing the new golf course would have progressed sufficiently to enable the course to be opened on the 7th June but the unfavourable weather conditions and other causes had delayed matters considerably. The committee was energetically pushing the work forward and it was hoped that the opening would be imminent. A Professional had been appointed and would commence his duties shortly.
In the absence of the president, The Archbishop of Wales, the formal opening of the new golf course was to be performed on Thursday afternoon 14th June by Mr David Gamble J.P, Talardy, one of the vice-presidents. The success of the new club seemed to be assured. The membership has reached a good total considering that the course has not been open for play.
The nine-hole course was pleasantly situated to the north of the City between the River Elwy and the Rhyl Road near to the new Service Garage. A portion of the latter had been placed at the disposal of the members for use as a clubhouse.
Before calling on Major Gamble to open the course the Rev W M Williams, Chairman of the committee appealed to those present not to be to critical as to the state of the course. “The construction work had started only three weeks ago and the greens and fairways were still in a rough condition. In such a short time it could not be expected that the course would equal that of the better courses in other places, but in the very near future it was the intention of the committee to extend the course to eighteen holes and therefore eliminate some of the existing short holes, thus giving greater variety. It was the hope and desire of the committee to make the course one of the best inland courses in Wales and with the land which they had in view there was every reason to think their hopes would be attained. He also appealed for support for the club. He emphasised that it did not exist for the few; it existed for all. Everyone was welcome, the only thing that was asked was that members should be sportsmen. Continuing the Reverend said, the club would be an asset to the City. Although it may not cause more people to take up permanent residence in the district it would undoubtedly attract visitors, and it would therefore improve business. It was, he said, a general complaint that the old Cathedral Cities were to set and to lacking in life. Such a club that which was being opened that day would relieve the monotony of life and improve the social conditions of the citizens. He appealed to all to join the club and make it a success.
In concluding he wished to publicly thank Mr Herbert Jones, The Service Garage, for his generosity. But for the kindness of Mr Jones the club could not have come into being. Mr Williams then called upon Major Gamble, who said that he was not a golfer, but was pleased to do all he could to help along such a worthy project, which would without doubt prove a valuable asset to the City. He would warn the members that even to his untutored eye it was evident that holes No 4 and 5 were dangerous, and that the river would receive a good number of balls. He promised to present a cup for competition amongst the members, and would leave to the committee the details of the format to be played.”
Major Gamble then played the first ball off the tee. A vote of thanks to Major Gamble was proposed by Mr W H Buxton and seconded by Mr H H Cleaver.
Mr Blencowe, Captain of the club, and Mr Barnwell then played off for the first game, and other members followed. Tea was afterwards provided at The Service Garage Café for members and potential members.
At the end of June it was reported that the newly opened golf course had already proved of great interest to the citizens, many of whom were complete novices, are now showing both keenness and aptitude. The Professional R Ll Williams has taken up his duties and has already made considerable improvement on the tees and greens.
In July much progress has been made on the new course and the committee decided to proceed with the remaining nine-holes on the Penybryn side of the River Elwy thus completing the eighteen-hole course.
The above picture shows a group of golfers outside the clubhouse (Bryn Asaph) in the 1930s. Does anyone recognize any of the golfers in the picture?
The Google Map below pinpoints the possible location of the golf course.