The history of Nuneaton Golf Club goes back to November 27th 1905 when a meeting was held in the council chambers to discuss its formation and soon after a parcel of land was rented from Mr.G.Ward to create an 18 hole golf course.
Mr. Knox was elected as the first president of the new club, an office which he held until 1930, Mr.J. Blair became the first captain, with Mr.B.G. Goodhall and Mr.H.C. Jones acting as joint honorary secretaries.
Work started on the course in January 1906 and the first ball was played by Mr. Knox on March 1st although the tees and greens were not laid until 1908. The first professional was Mr. D. Strachan from Burbage who also acted as green keeper.
At this time there were already 62 members and the first club house was built at the beginning of the present driveway for £225. The course was originally 18 holes but this was reduced down to 9 holes when the Ministry of Agriculture commandeered the land to support the war effort.
The onset of the Second World War presented the club with a lot of difficulties as many of the members were called up for service and starved of funds, but thanks to a loyal group of members it kept going and in 1944 the club was able to purchase a further 130 acres of land. At the time, the club only had £500 in funds, but the 50 remaining members each gave £10 each which served as a deposit with the rest of the money borrowed from the local bank.
Twenty years later the course was extended back to 18 holes when 20 acres of land, known as “The Fox’s Covert” was bought for £2000 per acre. This produced four of the prettiest holes on the course spanning the 3rd, 4th, 6th and 12th, along with tees for the 5th and 13th.
The new club house was built in 1971 and has since been extended and refurbished a number of times to create the wonderful, top quality facilities now enjoyed by over 800 members.
Some of the trophies played for today originate from the early history of club. The Knox Cup, Trench Cup and Close Bowl est.1906, Ayres Cup est.1908 and the Norton Cup est.1923. The Trench Cup for ladies was played for as early as 1906, but the first lady captain did not take office until 1914.
Author Paul House – with thanks to the Nuneaton Herald & Post
