Walsall club gets green light to build golf academy
This new golf academy will be tee-ing off in the Black Country soon after its plans were given the green light by council bosses.
The first artist impression of Calderfields Golf Club's new training centre in Walsall has been released to the Express & Star, after the club had its ambitious plans approved by Walsall planners.
The new training academy - which will create 15 jobs - will be complete with a practice area, with the purpose of golfers practicing their short game only.
Bosses hope the new facility will widen the audience to encourage more women and people with disabilities to take up the sport.
There will also be an amenity building which will include toilets, an office, a shop and a golf simulator room.
It is proposed the opening times will be 7am to 10pm in the summer and 8am to 10pm in the winter, and during hours of darkness, the building will be used for seminars and evening learning.
Along with the training centre, the club, based at Aldridge Road, is also looking to add a nine-hole golf course to go alongside its existing 18-holes.
Bosses at the club said they lodged the plans to 'widen the reach of existing clientèle and target a different audience', namely females, younger golfers and people with disabilities.
It previously had a bid turned down by Walsall Council in December for being an inappropriate development within greenbelt land, with the club's membership declining from 620 in 2010 to 355 last year.
At a planning committee meeting, Walsall Council leader Councillor Mike Bird said the proposal 'is considered consistent within the greenbelt and would not have an adverse effect on ecology.'
The new approved plans, which will also create 15 jobs, in addition to the 50 existing jobs at the golf club.
Michael Devine, of Calderfields Golf Club, said: "We are aiming to focus our attention on keen golfers who are simply put off by the membership money involved and the length of an 18-hole course.
"To create a shorter, more attractive golf course, we are attempting to diversify and encourage more people to join through a different approach to golf.
"With only a £50 membership fee for all year round, it is more appealing to people with a lower end income.
"I honestly believe that with the approval of this nine-hole golf course, by giving a little, a lot will be gained, as more people will become actively involved, such as youngsters who can now be trained from an earlier age," he said.
