STOCKPORT GOLF CLUB - A Classy Cheshire Colt

[Duncan Cheslett]

Stockport Golf Club dates back to 1905, with a 9 hole course across the railway line from Stepping Hill Hospital in Woodsmoor. When the course and adjacent land was purchased by Glasgow based diesel engine manufacturer Mirrlees Bickerton & Day a few years later the club relocated to a site at Torkington a mile or so away and set about building an 18 hole course.

The original course became Mirrlees GC, and continued as a company facility for employees and others until 1988. My grandfather was a member of Mirrlees and it is my earliest golfing memory as a young lad. He would have been very sad to see the course close and even sadder now to see it in an abandoned and overgrown state, planning permission for housing having been repeatedly refused for over 30 years.

The new course at Torkington was originally a joint effort between the club professional/greenkeeper Peter Barrie and the former Open champion Sandy Herd - by now the professional at Fixby (Huddersfield GC). The course opened for play in 1909 and then officially in 1910 with an exhibition match pitching JH Taylor and Harry Vardon against James Braid and Sandy Herd.

Within a year or so however, the club sought the expert opinion of Harry Colt to advise on improvements to their course. Colt came to Torkington in 1912 and made extensive changes, both to the routing and to the entire bunkering scheme. Details of Colt’s considerable input at Stockport in 1912 can be found in these contemporary newspaper articles;

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According to the club’s own history, Colt was subsequently brought in again in the aftermath of the Great War to advise on restoring and improving the course following wartime travails.


James Braid made a few alterations in 1935 – most notably the dogleg 3rd hole, which is entirely his.

Until the 1960s Stockport was a very open course – almost heathland in aspect but without the free-draining soil. It is said that every hole could be seen from the clubhouse.  A huge tree planting scheme around that time has changed to feel of the course completely – but not necessarily in a bad way. Tens of thousands of pines were planted, and now that they have reached maturity they add grandeur to the landscape and provide a degree of seclusion on each hole - as well as screening out the impact of surrounding housing and industry.

Happily the trees were set well back from fairways, framing each hole beautifully while not impacting on play. The grass is kept short between the trees so if a stray ball does find its way in there it will almost always be found.  Being pines of course, there are few problems with fallen leaves in autumn!

A few old oaks and beeches in strategic spots and around the perimeter add to the aesthetics and prevent the course becoming a complete monoculture. Stockport is an all-too-rare example of tree planting having been done intelligently and with overwhelmingly positive effect.

Stockport has long been considered one of the elite clubs in the area, along with Prestbury and Wilmslow. The three clubs are always in the mix for the 5^th best course in Cheshire, after the undisputed top four of Royal Liverpool, Wallasey, Delamere Forest, and Sandiway.

Let’s see if such a lofty assessment is justified...


Far from being a gentle handshake the opener is almost certainly the hardest hole on the course – a 445 yard monster of a par 4. Not only that, it requires a 200 yard carry with the first shot of the day to clear a deep dip in front of the Ladies’ tee. There is no trouble down there as such – it is just that unless one clears it and finds the fairway one will have a difficult job making the green in three shots, never mind two!
I can only think that it is this forced carry that prevents the club moving the tee back 30 yards (there is plenty of room) and making the hole a par 5. As it is though, members seem to take an almost perverse pride in having “the toughest opening hole in Cheshire”.

#1a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr

#1c by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr

#1d by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr




The second is a fairly straightforward 339 yard 2-shotter with a clever style of fairway bunkering that will become familiar as we work our way around the course. The ideal position to approach the green is from the right side of the fairway, but that side is protected by a large bunker 200 yards from the tee. The right hand fairway bunker is 30 yards further on, but an approach from that angle is dicing with greenside sand. You pays your money and you takes your choice!

#2b by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr

#2a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr

#2c by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr




The third is a typical Braid dogleg requiring a straight drive or long iron down an avenue of trees before the hole takes a sharp left turn 200 yards from the tee. The approach is steeply uphill to a tricky green protected by a cross bunker 50 yards short and flanking bunkers on either side. A lovely hole if you get it right but one that you’ll curse all day with one little slip up!
#3a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#3b by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#3c by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr




The fourth is a 400 yarder with a single large fairway bunker perfectly placed on the ideal line to the right 200 yards out from the tee. There is plenty of room on the left of the fairway but this necessitates a very tricky approach – particularly to find a left hand pin with the green sloping away to the right.#4a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#4b by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#4c by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr





The huge cross bunker at the short fifth requires an aerial shot all the way to the green. I’ve always felt that the option of running a shot in on such holes should be available if at all possible. My wife is a typical lady golfer and a 130 yard carry is at the absolute limit of her range with a driver. She could reach the green though, if she had a gap to aim for and bounce it through. The same goes for the legions of senior male golfers who sustain golf clubs with their subscriptions. It is no particular slight on Stockport’s fifth to suggest that it might play better with two front bunkers instead of one. Personally, I think it would look better too!#5a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr#5b by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr


The main hazard for average golfers on the short par 5 sixth is a cavernous pit on the right which requires a 200 yard carry to clear it. The bunkers on the better line left however, are 230 and 250 yards out.  Avoid these, and the second bank of traps are perfectly placed 50–80 yards short of the green on the right just as the tree line narrows the fairway. This is a hole without obvious natural interest but is very cleverly thought outt.


#[url=https://flic.kr/p/2hEYBFe]#6a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr[/url] by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr#6b by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr#6c by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr


The seventh is an absolutely lovely hole. It’s only short at 312 yards but position is everything from the tee. The green is beautifully set below the level of the fairway atop a little mound from which the land falls away to the woods on three sides.

#7a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#7b by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#7c by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr





The eighth is a corker of a long par 3. It plays slightly downhill into a corner of the property and is protected on three sides by OOB. Trees have encroached somewhat to the right of play and I can’t help feel that a great hole could only be enhanced by cutting back the foliage dramatically.#8a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#8b by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr




The par 5 ninth is one of those holes that appears to have no character whatsoever until the green is neared. The drive is blind with trees pressing in on both sides, and the second shot is a head scratcher. Where’s the green?This is where the hole reveals its quality. A bunkered ridge must be cleared or passed to the right, depending on how brave or foolhardy one is feeling.
#9a by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#9b by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr
#9c by Duncan Cheslett, on Flickr



Back nine to follow...

 

[Thomas Dai]

Thanks Duncan. Heavy dew. Looking forward to the rest.
Atb

[Duncan Cheslett]

Thanks Duncan. Heavy dew. Looking forward to the rest.
Atb

It was a very heavy afternoon, although it never actually rained!  I shall have to nip back in better light conditions and get some clearer pics...

[Clyde Johnson]

Thanks posting this Duncan...some interesting looking green complexes (ripe for some mowing expansions.)