Chirk golf club benefits from family investment

Sep 22 2009 by Richard Williamson, Liverpool Daily Post

CHIRK Golf Club is back under its original owners and reaping the benefits from a fresh round of investment.

The course near Wrexham was originally built in the 1990s as part of the great golfing boom that saw thousands of acres of farmland across the UK given over to new clubs.

Now, after a spell being leased out, the club has returned to the stewardship of the family that first established it on the North Wales golfing scene. It already boasts an impressive list of facilities and the owners are determined to build up its appeal both to potential members and visiting societies.

As well as the 18 hole championship standard course which has hosted county events for Denbighshire, there is a nine hole par three Academy course that is available on pay and play.

Says owner Guy Middleton: “We have spent a lot of time, money and effort in bringing the course up to tip-top condition. We have invested in new machinery and signage.

“The Academy course is not just a pitch and putt option, but a genuine test of anyone’s short game.”

The club also has a floodlit, under cover driving range with 14 bays, which is a great help to their PGA professional Chris Hodges, who offers tuition to all ages and also runs his pro shop on the site.

“This has also been refurbished with new mats and ball dispensers,” added Guy. “It is open seven days a week, including evenings and we have deals available on the number of balls players want to use.”

One of the attractions of the course is its unique setting. The 180 acres site is overlooked by National Trust land and the neighbouring Chirk Castle while the Llangollen Canal also provides a backcloth to the course and adjoining marina.

Many visitors will remember the ninth hole, one of the longest holes around at 664 yards from the back.

But Guy says: “This is not just a course for bombing your way round. There is a lot of water and players have to think about where they want to lay up so they can get in the right positions to score well. One of my favourites is the par three hole that has the Llangollen Canal behind it and a brook running right in front of the green. It is also framed by trees and is very pretty.”

Recalling the switch from farming to running a golf club, Guy says: “The R&A report of 1989 highlighted the need for more courses round the country and at the same time we had been looking at changing the use of our land so we opted to build a golf course. Since opening in 1992 it has really matured well. The trees we planted have grown up and there is a real definition to the course. We built the marina at the same time and used a lot of the soil that we dug out for that to build up the contours of the course, but it did not need much adding as it is quite undulating in any case.”