Lobden Golf Club
Lobden Moor
Whitworth
OL12 8XJ
Tel: 01706 343228
Lobden Golf Club
Founded 17th May 1888
Lobden Golf Club - Our History
The Early Years - 1950's
1951
Captain Mr J Sprowell
Hon. Treasurer Mr A Hargreaves
Hon. Secretary Mr A Mills
Lady Captain Mrs E Wheatley
The Ladies had an interesting prize known as the 'Travelling Prize'.
This was a brooch presented at the AGM to the person who returned
the best scratch score in any competition over the season. This
brooch was held for twelve months.
The Ladies played home and away fixtures against Tunshill Golf Club
during the season.
The club dairy list the names and addresses of 69 Lady Subscribers.
A charge for both men and ladies of 6d was made for each Competition
Card taken out.
Subscription were as follows:
Gents £3.15s 0d
Non-competitive member £2.15.0d
Ladies £2.10s.0d
Non-competitive member £1.15.0d
Lockers 5s.0d
Entrance Fee £3.3s.0d.
1953
Malcolm Hill - aged 16, became the youngest ever winner of the
President's Cup - the clubs Scratch Prize. He later became the
professional at Hazel Grove Golf Club in Stockport.
1954
Captain Mr R Harris
Lady Captain Miss A R Wilson
Home & away fixtures were played against Tunshill Golf Club.
1955
Captain Mr Clifford Ellison.
Lady Captain Mrs J Hawkard
Home & away fixtures were played against Tunshill Golf Club.
1956
Subscription were as follows:
Gents £4.10s 0d
Non-competitive member £2.15.0d
Ladies £2.10s.0d
Non-competitive member £1.15.0d
Junior Member £2.5s.0d
Lockers 5s.0d
Entrance Fee - Nil
The opening Saturday of the season was a fourball qualifier for the
Evening Chronicle followed a week later with the Opening Day fixture
Captain's v Ex-Captain' Team.
A special thanks goes to Bert Rushton for the loan of the above
handbooks.
'ZP' Penwortham- Monk Fryston 275kV Line
A letter was received from the Central Electricity Authority
regarding their proposal to construct an overhead transmission line
over Blackstone Edge to Tottington. It read: 'The proposed route
crosses your Golf Course immediately above the south-west corner
post of the fencing around the sixth green and the lowest conductor
on the line will be approximately 32'-0" above the ground.
No tower will be erected on the Golf Course...... For your
information the owners of the land, the Trustees of George Ferrand
Dearden, deceased, (Rochdale Manor Estate), per Hartley, Thomas and
Wright, Solicitors, Rochdale, have given their consent to our
proposals.
The proposals of course went ahead after discussions and meetings on
the course.
In response to a letter in 1959 the Central Electricity Generating
Board wrote saying: 'You may rest assured that your members are not
suffering hallucinations when they say that at times they are
getting slight shocks when playing in the vicinity of No.6 Green and
No.7 Fairway. I would say immediately, however, that they are not
shocks of the type normally meant when people speak of electric
shocks, but are harmless and quite common, particularly in climatic
conditions where there are circumstances which create what is known
as a charge of 'static' electricity. This happens when the charge of
static electricity is insulated from the ground, usually be some
form of rubber. I myself have often received sensations of this kind
when getting on or off a bus and you may have noticed that most
Transport Companies cover the metal boarding rail with a plastic
material........ It seems, therefore, that some of your players are
probably wearing rubber shoes and becoming charged with static
electricity, so that if for any reason they touch the steel shaft of
the club when it comes in contact with the green or a damp ball,
they get the sensation referred to......... I have confirmed that we
have done everything possible in arranging the various cables on the
towers over your Golf Course to see that the static effect is at its
absolute minimum.
Also in 1956 Mr Vinnie Crabtree took over from Mr F Silcock as the 'Groundsman/Steward'
of the club.
1957
Captain Mr R. Mills
Hon. Treasurer Mr A Chadwick
Hon. Secretary Mr A Mills
Lady Captain Mrs G Halligan
The handbook from 1957 shows that primarily the most popular type of
competition was still the fourball, of which there were 14
competitions during the course of the season. Six of these took
place on Sunday's.
It is interesting to note that the Alfred Hargreaves Trophy, Alan
Stevens Shield and six other 18 hole medal rounds were played on
Wednesday's before the introduction of the Wed 9 hole competitions.
Two Mixed Foursome competition also took place on Saturday's, one of
which was on Closing Day, partners by ballot.
At this time the only 'board prizes' were the Frank Taylor Cup
(April), Jubilee Trophy (May), Alfred Hargreaves (June), Alan
Stevens Trophy (July), Victory Cup (July), Captain's Final with the
Presidents Cup the Scratch Prize going to the player having the best
18 holes over the season. By contrast there are now ** board prizes
to play for during the season. The Ladies had just four board
prizes, the Lady Captain's Prize, Alfred Hargreaves Trophy, Edith E
Bussy Rose Bowl and the Jubilee Trophy. Twelve competitors qualified
for the Lady Captains Prize from three qualifying rounds, the other
three trophies were played for over three rounds. The best aggregate
over 36 holes the winner.
Home and away fixtures were played against Whittaker Golf Club, the
Annual trip was to Wakefield with a weekend trip to Prestatyn.
Subscription were as follows:
Gents £4.10s 0d
Non-competitive member £2.15.0d
Ladies £2.10s.0d
Non-competitive member £1.15.0d
Junior members £2.5s.0d
Country members £1.5s.0d
Lockers 5s.0d
There was no entrance fee at this time.
The Groundsman and Steward was Mr V Crabtree.
The course measured (2500) 5000 yds, the bogey was 70 and the SSS 66
and for the Ladies (2188) 4376 yds.
1958
Mr H H Ormerod became a Life Member joining Mr H Hawkard.
Fourball's were held on the 1st Sunday of every month from April to
October.
Wednesday fixtures included the Allan Stevens Shield, Frank Taylor
Cup, Fourball and Medal rounds.
1959
By 1959 the subscriptions were as follows:
Subscription were as follows:
Gents £5.5s 0d
Non-competitive member £2.15.0d
Ladies £3.0s.0d
Non-competitive member £1.15.0d
Junior members £2.5s.0d
Country members £1.5s.0d
Lockers 5s.0d
There was not entrance fee at this time.
Home and away fixtures were played against Bacup Golf Club and
Failsworth Golf Club.
The course had been lengthened for the men to (2602) 5204 yds, the
bogey was 68 and the SSS 66 and remained the same for the Ladies at
(2188) 4376 yds.
