Penn teeing up a bright new future

The coronavirus outbreak, which came straight after a complete refurbishment of the clubhouse as well as significant improvements to the course, brought about a lot of uncertainty for the 112-year-old club.

But with the help of a successful open day and tireless work on the picturesque course, interest has gone through the roof and there is a huge feeling of excitement as to what the future holds.

Honorary secretary Mick Woodhouse explained: “The course is probably in the best condition it has been, as far as I can remember.

“That’s down to our course manager, Jonathan Wood and his team of greens staff.

“They’ve done a fantastic job, during the lockdown as well when half the team was on furlough. They’ve done a remarkable job.

“In the new year, just before lockdown, we completely refurbished the clubhouse, providing a pleasant environment for the hospitality we pride ourselves on.

“It provides a really nice atmosphere for the outside functions and events we hold, too.

“We’ve been grateful to receive financial support from England Golf and the Staffordshire Community Foundation which went towards both the course and the clubhouse, under the guidance of the board of directors.

“All these factors have helped us to attract events like the Black Country Business Festival Golf Day and the Promise Dreams Golf Day, as well as attracting England Golf and Staffordshire County golf tournaments.

“Obviously all that helps as it’s good publicity for the club and good income, too.”

Both the Black Country Business Festival and Promise Dreams events – the latter organised by Steve Bull and featuring fellow former Wolves stars Dave Jones, Don Goodman and Gordon Cowans – took place earlier this month, with the club also benefitting from Wolverhampton Volkswagen and Skoda sponsoring both of them.

But as well as attracting those, Penn Golf Club has also enjoyed a vast increase in players between 18 and 30 taking up memberships in a bid to improve their game.

“With the open day and all these factors, people struggling to book tee-times elsewhere because of the demand after lockdown, we’ve attracted more than 90 new members over the past few months,” said Woodhouse.

“What’s encouraging is that it seems to have bucked the trend in terms of the 18-30 age group as well.

“There had been a drop-off nationally, not a lot of young people taking up the game, but that appears to have changed.”

A new thing which has been implemented for members is the ‘Ball of Fame’, which will see those who get a hole-in-one on the course be given pride of place on the wall in the refurbished clubhouse.

Remarkably, since June 6, there has been 11 hole-in-ones and Terri Smith has enjoyed two on the same hole.

An eight-handicapper, she achieved the feat twice in the space of a month with a pitching wedge on the 101-yard 16th.

And Woodhouse, who has been with the club for 33 years, is ultimately excited over how things have developed as of late.

“We’ve had a continual programme of improvements, but we made quite a big investment for a fleet of new machinery,” he added.

“And our course manager really has done a fabulous job.

“They’ve done a great job over the last two or three years.

“That’s the main thing as your course is your major asset which attracts golfers of all abilities, so there has been a lot of positive developments on the whole.

“It’s a shame some clubs like Patshull Park has to close, that went into receivership.

“But a lot of clubs have benefitted from new members and it’s exciting times for us at Penn at the minute, I have to say. The future appears to be bright for us.”

For more information on Penn Golf Club and details on how to become a member, visit penngolfclub.co.uk or call 01902 341142 (option one).