93-year-old golf venue to close down next year

A Gloucestershire golf course that has been in existence since 1927 is to close down next year – and will likely be at least the sixth UK venue to close amid Covid-19.

While many golf facilities have boomed since they were allowed to reopen, some have struggled, particularly ones with hotels attached or run by local authorities that need to make huge savings.

Cleeve Hill Golf Club is owned by Tewkesbury Borough Council and has been operated by Share Club for several years – but the operator has served notice to end its tenancy at the earliest opportunity, which will be the end of March 2021.

Cleeve Hill Golf Club. Image from Facebook

The council therefore commissioned an independent expert to analyse the facility, and the subsequent report concluded that golf could not be ‘financially sustainable at Cleeve Hill without significant investment and an ongoing subsidy from the council’.

Given this conclusion, the council’s executive committee has decided to end its licence to use Cleeve Hill Common for the laying out of a golf course, and the land will return to the control of the Cleeve Common Trust, from April 1, 2021.

Cleeve Hill Golf Club. Image from Facebook

“The council, which owns the clubhouse, has been exploring alternative options for the club’s site. In the short-term, there are no current plans to redevelop it, although the very poor condition of the building means that there is no other affordable option other than for it to be demolished,” added a council spokesman.

The club and course is based on Cleeve Hill, the highest point in the Cotswolds with commanding views of Winchcombe, Bishop’s Cleeve, Cheltenham, Gloucester and beyond.

Cleeve Hill Golf Club. Image from Facebook

Councillor Robert Vines, lead member for finance and asset management on the borough council, said in a statement: “It is a shame that local authority golf will end here at Cleeve Golf Club, and sadly this will be a particularly difficult time for the club’s employees.”

Since the pandemic started, at least three golf clubs have closed down – Patsull Park Hotel, Golf and Country Club near Wolverhampton, Magnolia Park Hotel and Golf Club in Buckinghamshire and Brucefields Family Golf Centre in Stirling, while Pewit Golf Course in Derbyshire has not yet reopened, and Bulwell Hall Golf Course and Country Park is set to close in November and Browns Golf Course on the Isle of Wight will close at the end of this month.