A Model To Be Followed At Chippenham Golf Club
Many clubs around the country are improving their facilities in various ways, but perhaps none more so than the transformation Chippenham Golf Club has seen over the past three years. Chippenham Golf Club, a member based club located in North Wiltshire, enjoys over 100 years of history and forms an integral part of the Chippenham community.
What started as a vision of the Committee some eight years ago, has now come to fruition through the construction of a new state-of-the-art clubhouse, improvements to the Course with the opening of four new holes and redesign of others, improvements to the Driving Range, as well as a large injection of cash into the club’s reserves. By partnering with Freeman Retirement Living, a division of MF Freeman Ltd, a developer specialising in care and retirement living, the club utilised an asset in the form of a parcel of land which included the old clubhouse along with the 1st & 18th holes. This piece of land saw the development of 75 independent living apartments aimed at the 55+ market and a 65 bed Care Home.
The new Clubhouse was completed and opened for business in December 2012 and has seen the club rapidly grow its food and beverage operation. The Committee took the decision to bring the bar & catering back in-house before the opening of the Clubhouse and this has certainly paid dividends, moving from a deficit to a strong surplus situation. The members and visitors now also enjoy a modern, well equipped space that serves all their needs. It is not only the members seeing the benefit, as the club also caters for private functions and meeting facilities to the general public. This has been an area of high growth and has fuelled the success of the operation.
General Manager, Leighton Walker who started in his role in March 2013, said “I have been extremely fortunate to find myself in this role. To have such fantastic, modern facilities to work with is a real privilege and with the right systems and people now put in place, we look forward to years of growth. Already we have pushed food & beverage, membership and green fee revenue forward and this shows no signs of slowing down. It’s great to have a product to promote, that myself and all the members are really proud of. The development has secured the future of Chippenham Golf Club for the next 50-100 years”.
The Committee had also recognised that the course had become a little tired and was in need of modernisation. A neighbouring piece of land was leased from a local farmer to accommodate the construction of three new holes and these opened in May 2014. These holes, designed by Matt Maryon, offer stunning views over the Wiltshire countryside and offer a new challenge to the members. A couple of these holes are quickly becoming favourites and, as they mature, will only improve. The redesign of the course has seen it move from approximately 5700 yards from the white tees to over 6400 yards, with a similar increase from the red tees.
The practice facilities will also see a makeover in the near future, with an eight bay covered structure due to be built in 2015 along with some extra parking space. This will round off the redevelopment and will ensure the club offers the complete package to its members.
Perhaps one of the most important legacies of the redevelopment is the bolstering of the club’s funds. This money will be both invested for the long term and the use of future generations, but also for further improving and enhancing the facilities. Projects such as the drilling of a bore hole, new greens maintenance facility and drainage work on parts of the course are either underway or will become areas of focus over the coming years.
“These are all exciting challenges that will require careful management, but it makes coming to work every day very interesting”, said Mr Walker.
He also added, “In times where clubs are struggling to invest heavily in facilities, we are again fortunate to be able to do this through the foresight of previous Committees”.
While not all clubs may be fortunate enough to have assets that can be utilised to drive redevelopment, those clubs that are will increasingly look at these types of opportunities. It will require a strong determination, patience and some good fortune to make them succeed, but it is possible. The project at Chippenham was very much driven by Graham Cowdrey, a member of the club and successful businessman.
Mr Cowdrey stated, “This was a long time in the making and many hurdles had to be crossed, but with the help and support of a small team of dedicated people, the club’s Committee and members, we were able to make it a reality. Forging a strong relationship with the developer was also crucial. This can now be the model for countless other clubs going forward”.
Everything points to exciting times ahead for members and visitors to Chippenham Golf Club and a chance to sit back and enjoy the new facilities.