GOLF History
Originally farmland adjoined to a country house until 1972, the estate was acquired by the Mackaness family who remain the owners to the present day. In recent times, the family have slowly developed the estate - first with the opening of Rudding Holiday Park in 1973, alongside the renovation of the grade I listed Georgian hall for use as a conference and banqueting centre in 1987.
In the early 18th century Rudding was owned, in turn, by Messrs Williamson of Wetherby, Craddock, James Collins (who enlarged the house and planted avenues in the park) and Thomas Wilson. In 1788 Alexander Wedderburn, Lord Loughborough, the future Lord Chancellor, acquired the estate and called in the garden designer Humphry Repton to remodel the landscape.
In 1805 the estate was purchased by the Hon. William Gordon, who demolished the original house and commissioned the building of the present house in a new location. In 1824 the estate was sold to Sir Joseph Radcliffe, Bt. with the new house still unfinished and he secured architect Robert Chantrell to oversee its completion. London architect A.E. Purdie designed a Gothic Revival chapel which was added in 1879. Several generations of the Ratcliffe family then occupied the house.
The Granada television series which screened in 1971 called Seasons of the Year was filmed here. This consisted of six plays involving the various occupants of the house over a 150-year period from the Napoleonic wars to the 1970s. In some ways, this series was almost a precursor to the later TV series Brideshead Revisited, where the house was almost a character in its own right.
In May 2017 a new spa building was completed with rooftop spa and gardens designed by Matthew Wilson. A gym was also added to the spa in October 2017.
they were. We have tried Q&A evenings to get interactive with members and these started with over twenty members, but then, after just four meetings, this dropped down to three members. We have done everything we can to try and communicate, but sometimes it’s hard to get our point across.” Ten years ago, the club was given planning permission to build another nine holes. With only having that permission stand for two years, they built two new holes in the middle of the course which would keep the planning open. “The holes have continually been looked after but never used. Our Managing Director decided there is approximately £120,000 tied up in the holes so, in April 2019, we decided to put them in the main loop. Although they were ready to play golf on, they weren’t ready to be included in a set of eighteen. There is a lot of remedial work to do around the woods etc., so we’re currently working on making them more playable. We have realised the tees are too small, so we are going to close them again in the winter and build a whole new tee complex for both holes.”
Whilst on the phone with Richard I asked his opinion on the industry. “I think internally the industry is doing well with lots going on for aspiring greenkeepers. If you want it enough, there are many roads you can take within our profession - but it’s not a given, and you have to work hard for it.” “Where I see the issue is how we are thought of. People often think that we sit on our backsides for twelve months a year and suddenly we have a golf course. Members aren’t interested in what we do or why we do it, as long as their £1000 gets them as much golf as possible. I feel we need more exposure and people need to be made more aware of the technicalities of our profession. Image is massive nowadays; so much so that people make an actual career out of it. Our image needs bringing into the 21st century.” Are greenkeepers and groundsmen valued? “Yes, by our fellow turfcare professionals. No, by management in a lot of places, although we feel very valued here. For anyone outside the industry, they just don’t understand what we do and the labour involved.”
Hawtree 14th 48 PC December/January 2020
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