Big swing in membership boosts St Thomas's golf club

STAFFORDSHIRE golf club, St Thomas's Priory, is celebrating a large increase in membership, despite the economic down turn, thanks to a range of investment to improve facilities.

The club, at Armitage near Rugeley, has seen the number of new members rise by more than a third during the year, despite the recession devastating parts of the leisure industry.

Managers at the club, home to an 18-hole championship course set alongside the 19th Century Hawkesyard Hall, put the increase down to the more than £100,000 spent improving the course and facilities at the club over the last 18 months.

“At St Thomas’s we’re striving to become one of the best golf clubs in the region and by improving the facilities here we’re bringing the course and the hall back to their sparkling best,” said Phil Gibson, director of golf at the club.

The number of members rose by nearly 150 during last year, an increase of more than a third, with the rise continuing during the beginning of 2010 with more than 50 new members joining in the last two months.

The investment made into the course over the last 18 months has included over seeding the greens with high quality grass, several major changes on certain holes and bedding in nearly 200 new trees. The club’s practice area has also been extensively updated and the training academy refurbished.

The work is part of long term programme at the club which is set to see several greens redesigned, holes extended and bunkers moved so the course maintains its golfing challenge.

“The rise in the number of people who want to play at St Thomas’s is a direct result of the better playing conditions we’ve created and the all round enjoyment they get in coming here,” added Mr Gibson.

“In addition to the golf club is Hawkesyard Hall which offers first-class business conference facilities as well as a fabulous wedding ceremony and reception venue, we can also accommodate any other occasion.”

“We’re hoping even more people are going to join us this year as the season gets started,” he said.

The new facilities will be showcased at the club’s open day on Sunday 21 March where visitors will be able to enjoy a free round.

The newly refurbished coaching academy at the club, the European Golf Performance Institute, will be officially reopened, with tours for visitors.