Club focus: Columnist Chris Boughton profiles Bury St Edmunds Golf Club
The Bury St Edmunds Golf course was created in 1924 and the original design was by the first British Ryder Cup team captain, Ted Ray, winner of an Open and a US Open.
It measured 6,087 yards, which was regarded as long for a non-links course.
Today’s measurement of 6,676yrds off the white tees is still the second longest in Suffolk.
In an era when golf was largely the province of the wealthy aristocratic and professional classes, the club was created with a deliberate policy of being open and available to the townspeople of Bury St Edmunds, with the admirable tagline “No swank and no bunkum”.
The first pro was Arthur Matthews and a splendid link with the past (for any sport is nothing without its roots) in the form of one of his clubs – an ancient hickory-shafted mid-iron stamped with his name – hangs above the bar, the prize for the annual President’s Mashie competition.
Matthews (who earned 50 shillings a week) was also in charge of the clubhouse, which was then lit by oil lamps, for mains electricity was not connected until 1937.
He had an assistant, Miss Nellie Baldwin, who was paid 12s 6d a week to provide food and “anything else necessary”.
During World War II the course, like many other sporting venues (racing and football grandstands, for instance), was used as a troop billet.
The humps and hollows in the belt of woodland between the 7th and 8th fairways are reminders of an assault course built by the Suffolk Regiment.
The Ladies’ section held regular competitions to raise money for causes such as the Red Cross.
A wholesale redesign of the course – by noted golf architect Frank Pennick – and a new clubhouse became necessary during the 1960s because of the construction of the A14.
New holes were built, original ones renumbered – what was the 1st is now the 6th, for example, and the old sixth now the 14th – and many greens became multi-tiered.
The new-look Bury St Edmunds Golf Club was formally opened in May 1969.
Another step forward was the construction of a nine-hole course, opened in October 1991 and now a thriving pay-and-play facility, a boon for beginners and casual golfers but no ‘gimme’ for the more experienced player either.
Mike Verhelst, the current General Manager, remarks on their website: “We are very proud of our club with two fine courses and social facilities to match.
“There’s a welcome to members and guests alike.”
The on-site Pro Shop and practice facilities are run by PGA professional Matt Alderton assisted by PGA professional Simon Byford and PGA assistant professional Sarah Attwood.
The Club’s current captains are Stewart Chapman (Men’s), Alison Bass (Ladies’), Tim Beard (Senior section) and Danny Howes (Junior section).
Results catch-up
There are a couple of results for me to round-up still from matches played at Bury GC on Saturday, March 21 (two days before the course closed to comply with the Government’s Coronavirus isolation guidelines).
On an ideal early spring day for golf, with blue skies and only a light breeze, the Bury club held their March Stableford competition.
Scoring was reasonably good with four golfers returning 40 Stableford points or more.
Marcus Price carded the best score and included birdies on the 1st, 3rd, 11th and 18th holes to accumulate 43 points and first place in Division 1 and overall.
Steven Bradford’s 41pts was the next best score and won him Division 2. Also in Division 2, Trevor Durrant took the runner-up spot with 40pts pushing Ross Brinkley into third place on count-back.
On the same day the Ladies held their March Stableford where Sue Russell’s 37pts was the best score which also won her Division 2. Sarah Pool led the way in Division 1 with 34pts. The runners-up were Pam Madams in Division 1 and Heather Chandler in Division 2.
