South Staffs

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Tell me about South Staffs.


It was reckoned to be the best course in the Wolverhampton area during the 1960s when I was a lad in the district. I played it once and don't remember anything about it. I remember rather more about Oxley and Penn, Shifnal and Lilleshall (my father's first club).

[Richard Fisher]

Mark. Many thanks for raising South Staffs. At one time it had a number of distinguished members (as of course did Penn, from whence came the legendary Chas Stowe), including Pat Marston (Oxford Captain v Henry Longhurst for Cambridge). Vardon, Braid, Colt and Donald Steel have all worked there as architects, apparently, so the pedigree is strong, but I suspect its regional primacy has indeed been usurped. We used to see a lot of good amateurs from South Staffs, Shifnal, Enville etc playing at Harlech (and Aberdovey), and still do, to an extent, but not on the scale of old. South Staffs hosts the English Senior Womens' Amateur in 2017. In this context, anybody know much about Sandwell Park (and apologies if it has been a thread before)? It was one of Darwin's top inland courses in his 'famous courses' essay for the Lonsdale Library volume, but I had heard that it - as with others in the region - was having a hardish time financially. That may have just been evil rumour.
And likewise sorry to hear that the game itself has given you up.

[Thomas Dai]

South Staffs at Wolverhampton is a fine course, a mens par 71 but with an SSS of 72 and an SSS higher than par usually indicates somewhere challenging.

The course is a parkland and can be stretched up to circa 6,600 yds. Historically it's kept in very fine condition and is known for it's fast, true rolling greens.

Being a parkland there are plenty of trees around but not overly excessive, and what there are are varied in species. Sensibly the lower branches are mostly kept high so that you shouldn't get a poke in the eye!
The rough is mowed pretty low and there are few gunch areas so finding offline shots isn't a particular problem.

It is often said of the course that you had better make your score on the first six holes coz you won't make it after that. I go along with this as there are numerous par-4's that exceed 400 yds and several holes have awkward greens, several slope downwards from front to rear although the par-4 16th is infamous for being the opposite, a green where it's most definately best not get above the pin.

I have some photos which I shall attempt to find and post.

South Staffs hold numerous amateur open competitions and entering one if these would be a good way of seeing the course.

Here's the club website - http://www.southstaffordshiregolfclub.co.uk

Worth playing. I doubt you'll be disappointed.

Atb