HISTORY





Stockport Golf Club was founded by a group of visionaries in 1905. They built a 9-hole course at Woodsmoor to attract new members and get play started. From the outset it was clear they needed a full 18-hole course to do justice to the Club’s ambitions.

A site was found at Torkington and Sandy Heard the 1902 Open Champion was engaged to design the course, and very wisely the club asked its first Professional Peter Barrie to lay it out, supervising every aspect of its construction.

The course opened in 1909 remains intact into the 21st Century, and continues to provide at 6,392 yards a good examination of the golfer’s skill at all levels, and fully embodies the requirement that members and visitors adhere to the club motto if they are to score well: MENS AEQUA IN ARDUIS (A Stable mind in Adversity)

The course was routed round a small farmhouse, which served as the first clubhouse. As the Club grew in size the farmhouse became inadequate and there have been a number of extensions made over the years.

These have resulted in a somewhat rambling Club House, yet the intimacy goes some way to explaining the uniquely friendly atmosphere that always seems to be present when members or visitors retire to the Club House after golf.

In such convivial circumstances it is no surprise to learn that the social side of Stockport GC is an important and successful part of Club life. Seasonal Dances and Balls, Dinners, Family events, Bridge and especially Prize Presentations are very well supported.

The Club has been an important member of the Cheshire Union of Golf Clubs since the Union was formed in 1921. Many county events and championships have been staged. Sidney Potter, Israel Sidebottom, William Ashbrook, Rodney Gorton, Alan Tune, David Peel and Jamie Howarth are prominent amongst those who have carried the Club’s name proudly into amateur competitions, along with Elisabeth Wilson, who played for the county team over a remarkable 24-year time span (1970-1994) and won the Ladies’ Scratch Gold Medal no fewer than 21 times. David Peel is currently the Captain of Cheshire for 2011.

Despite the success of the Golf Club over the years, a club cannot thrive unless it is well managed. The committee system remains essentially as it was at the foundation of the club, yet it recognizes the need to employ the finest professional staff to prepare and maintain the course and to feed and water golfers in the Club House after their round.

In recent years, previous course record holder Charl Schwartzel the current Masters Champion in 2011, shot a 64 whilst playing at Stockport as an Open qualifier venue, and saw his course record beaten by Jamie Howarth with a 63. The new course record is held by our own David Peel the current Cheshire Captain who recently shot a 64 over the remodeled course.