A new greens chairman, a dedicated course manager and a forward thinking chairman are recession busting at Moor Allerton Golf Club.
Laurence Gale MSc finds out more
L-r: David Goldstone, Marcus Oakey and Henry Stone
Ménage à trois! M
oor Allerton Golf Club was founded in 1923, with its original 18-hole course designed by Dr Alister McKenzie. However, by the 1960s, the club had outgrown its original site and made the decision to move to the nearby village of Wike in North Leeds. Robert Trent Jones Senior was commissioned to design the course, his first in Britain, utilising 220 acres of picturesque and undulating Yorkshire countryside. He created three superb loops of nine-holes - the Lakes, Blackmoor and High - that all start and finish at the clubhouse. The Trent Jones trademarks of shallow bunkers, huge teeing grounds, lakes and large contoured greens are evident on all three loops. The courses opened for play in 1971 and, such was their design and quality, were shortlisted to hold the Ryder Cup in 1977. Peter Alliss, who represented GB and Ireland in the Ryder Cup on eight
occasions, was the Club Professional in the early 1970s. Whilst he is best known as ‘the voice of golf’ on TV, an author and course architect, he is still an honorary member and a frequent visitor. Likewise, Howard Clark (former Ryder Cup Player and now commentator on Sky Sports) was the tournament pro for many years and is also an honorary member. Like many golf clubs up and down the country, Moor Allerton is facing some tough challenges to ensure they remain a viable asset in terms of attracting and retaining members during this ongoing recession. This is made even more difficult in an already competitive market as there are a further eight golf clubs within a five- mile radius.
Whilst a number of clubs have gone down the route of reducing budgets and, in some instances, laying off greenkeeping staff, Moor Allerton are bucking this trend by continuing to
invest money to ensure it meets the demands of its members and guests alike.
This has come about with the vision of the clubs new chairman, Henry Stone, who is putting the final touches to the restructuring of the Board of Directors, Operations and Golf Services teams to oversee the running of the club.
Henry has been with the club since 1971 and has seen it go through good and bad times, especially the standard and playability of the course. Many of the ‘bad times’, he says, stemmed directly from decisions made by the committee at the time.
He believes that it is important to have the right blend of skills and experience on his committee, and to work closely with the members - currently just over 600. Fifty percent of the total annual income is ploughed back into the course as, he says, it is the main reason why people come to play
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