Lobden Golf Club
Lobden Moor
Whitworth
OL12 8XJ
Tel: 01706 343228
Lobden Golf Club
Founded 17th May 1888
Lobden Golf Club - Our History
The Jubilee Year - 1938
The
following, written by a past member, appeared in the
Rochdale
Observer in celebration of the Club's Jubilee.
LOBDEN CLUB CELEBRATES ITS JUBILEE HISTORY AND MEMORIES
Every golf course, like human beings, has a personality - no matter
whether the course be one of the great and famous, or some scarcely
known nine-hole course. Outside of the Rochdale district few are the
golfers who have heard of Lobden, and even those who have rarely
give it a second thought - I mean those golfers who carry more than
six clubs in their bag. Yet Lobden has been a golf course for nigh
on fifty years, and last night its members celebrated the jubilee of
the formation of the club.
Lobden has for me, and for many of the older generations of Rochdale
golfers, treasured memories. It lies in one of the pleasantest
places in the district, and humble though the course may be, its
site is ideal. Lobden always gives those who trouble to climb the
hill to the little wooden clubhouse a feeling of exhilaration. In
the days before the motor car was available even to the wealthy, a
Saturday afternoon's golf at Lobden was in the nature of a picnic.
Golfers travelled by train or tram and even by the Whitworth horse
bus to Whitworth, thence by landau or cab to the clubhouse. Eighteen
holes of golf was the rule and in summer months perhaps thirty-six.
When the evening came the tired but happy golfers would saunter down
the hill and call at Hardman Jackson's for a glass of ale, and maybe
two, and there were those who would even linger until closing time.
EARLY OFFICERS
It is almost true to say that golf was introduced into Rochdale by
Allan Stevens of treasured memory, and it was his enthusiasm in the
early days that made a successful club a possibility. A shield
presented by him is still an annual event in the club's fixtures.
Among the office bearers and the first members were the following:
Hon. President, J. Griffith Dearden (Lord of the Manor): Captain,
Robert Slack: Secretary, Alan Stevens; Treasurer, T. T. Kenyon;
members of the general committee, J. R. Hartley, Charles Morgan, R.
W. Schofield and William Tees; members, Anthony Baldwin, Alexander
Bell, William H. Best, George James Booth, Henry Booth, Edward
Bythway, J. M. Calvert, G. W. Crawshaw, James Cheetham, James H.
Cheetham, B. W. Cook, A. H. Crowther, W. H. Duncan, James Elliot,
John Elliot, J. B. Entwisle, George Jackson, Thomas Janieson, R. A.
Leach, S. A. Maclure, A. L. Mills, Alex Molesworth, R. R. Osbourne,
James Pearson, John E. Petrie, H. D. Rattray, C. M. Royds, T. W.
Schofield, L. P. Tomson, George Walker, A Williamson and E. K.
Yearsley.
Of these a few are with us, but the mere mention of their names can
start an evening of reminiscence. The minute books reveal that the
club had its difficulties in the early days and economies had to be
exercised in a variety of ways. A letter dated November 2nd, 1894,
sent by Fletcher Bolton acknowledged the receipt of a cheque for £5.
8s., but Mr. Bolton was sorry that he could not allow the deductions
made on the account re carting of timber to provide the wooden posts
that kept the cattle off the greens. There was certainly not any
'pot' hunting in the early years, for the minutes show that prizes
were often limited to a new driver or half a dozen new balls.
Securing a competent greenkeeper exercised the minds of the
committee to some extent and eventually it was arranged that a man
called Mitchell should be paid a standing wage of £1 per week and
this was to include his attendance at the links at night to lock up
the shelter.
THE KING'S ROAD COURSE
Following Lobden came the opening of the nine-hole course at King's
Road and the growing popularity of the game is evidenced in 1894,
when it was resolved that on the membership attaining a hundred at
King's Road, to put the entrance fee up to three guineas. The
committee were more generous with the handicap allowances in those
days, for the limit at both Lobden and King's Road was thirty
strokes. The club also had its own colours and in March, 1894, it
was resolved that these should be scarlet and green collar and that
a club button be provided. The only member of the club to maintain
old-time dignity is my friend Mr. Frederick Lye.
And so until 1906 Lobden and King's Road were good enough for the
most ambitious of local golfers. The game, however, was increasing
in popularity and there was congestion on both links on busy
Saturday afternoons. Not only that, but eighteen hole courses were
becoming common and Rochdale had to fall in line. As a result of the
decision to make an eighteen hole course at Bagslate, there came a
severance between Lobden and Rochdale. For the Bagslate course a new
club was constituted which took the name of the Rochdale Club and
the one at Whitworth the name of the hill on which their links lay.
The first general meeting of the Lobden Club under its new name was
held at the Wellington Hotel on February 7th, 1906. The minute book
of the early months of 1906 saw a crop of resignations including a
number of those who started the nine-hole course at Whittaker.
Still, new members came along.
THE FAITHFUL
Among those who remained faithful and actively interested in the old
club were Frank Taylor, who was first made a member in 1890, Edward
Healey, Frederick Lye, R. M. Wild, H. Brandon, J. B. and A.
Hargreaves (who is the present Hon. Treasurer of the club), all of
whom were most regular in their attendance at the committee
meetings. The committee concerned itself with securing a better club
house, lengthening and improving the course, and there were times,
in the pre-war period at least, when no course in the district had
better greens than those at Lobden.
The important dates in connection with the club are as follows: The
club was instituted on May 17th, 1888, under the name of the
Rochdale Golf Club. The first links were laid out at Shawforth, but
after a short period the land was found to be unsuitable and it was
decided to lay out the present links at Lobden. These new links were
opened for play on May 17th, 1890. Captain for the year was Robert
Slack; Hon. Treasurer, Thomas T. Kenyon; Hon. Secretary, A Stevens;
committee, Edward Bythway, W. H. Duncan, J. R. Hartley and R. W.
Schofield. Those old pioneers of the game were a happy and jovial
band and Lobden always brings back memories to me of Ted Healy,
Frank Taylor, Hosegood, Cheetham (who always 'went to sea' on making
a bad shot and was never known to utter a 'damn'), Frederick Lye and
a host of others.
During the past few years further improvements have been made to the
course, and the present No. 6 tee is one of the highest, in
Lancashire, being well over 1,000 feet above sea level. It cannot be
said that it is a long course, but it is certainly very sporty. It
is the place for fresh air and good company and long may the club
thrive.
The Jubilee Captains are Mr. Harold Hawkard and Miss May Smith. Mr.
Harold Hawkard, who is one of the oldest members, has always taken a
deep interest in the welfare of the club, as did his father for many
years before him. The Lady Captain, Miss May Smith, has been a most
active worker in the club's interest for many a good years.
T. T. Heywood
