these Open Championship Clubs choose to relief grind - Pitchcare

Golf
Parkstone Golf Club
occupies an SSSI between
Poole and Bournemouth.
The new man charged
with maintaining this
ecologically sensitive site
is Steve Richardson and,
as our editor discovers,
he has, in just a few
months, already made an
impression on the course
and the members
Steve Richardson
Golf clubs often form an oasis of
green within an urban sprawl.
One such club is Parkstone Golf
Club, a stunning, mature
heathland course set just a few
minutes’ drive from the town centres of
Poole and Bournemouth in Dorset.
Its setting preserves a tiny pocket of
what was once an extensive heath
covering much of this area of the county.
Today, only pockets of the original heath
remain, protected by various
conservation bodies from the demands
for housing and industrial sites.
Founded in 1909 by Lord Wimborne as
the Parkstone and Canford Cliffs Golf
20 PC FEBRUARY/MARCH 2012
Presenting Parkstone
Around the
blooming
heather!
Links, the original course was designed
by two times Open champion, Willie Park
Junior.
In 1927, it was discovered that Lord
Wimborne wanted to sell the land for
building development, but he agreed to
give the members first refusal. Six local
businessmen formed a company to run
Parkstone as a proprietary club, but were
unable to raise the total amount of
£2,000. T. W. Simpson, whose house at
Compton Acres overlooked the course,
saved the day with a low interest loan
and, in doing so, preserved his views
over the course to Poole Harbour. Sadly,
for Mr Simpson, his house fell foul to
developers, but Compton Acres Garden
remains as a tourist attraction!
In 1937, the course was substantially
enlarged and redesigned by James Braid,
the famous golf course architect and five
times Open Champion. Additional
acreage was obtained by buying bogland
from Lord Arlington, and reclaiming it
to form the current 8th, 9th, 10th and
11th holes.
The club continued in this form until
1960 when, after many years of
deliberation and uncertainty, the
shareholders finally agreed to sell and,
equally importantly, the members agreed
to buy the club. The price was a very