'End of an era': Maidenhead Golf Club moves off its home of 130 years

It’s the ‘end of an era’ for Maidenhead Golf Club after members played a final round at their Shoppenhangers course before moving off.

The golf club has long known that it would have to move by the end of 2025 to make room for the controversial 1,500-home development by Cala Homes.

For many members, New Year’s Eve was a sad day, saying goodbye to a course some have played on for almost half a century.

Maidenhead Golf Club was formed in 1896, making it 130 years old.

William Henry Grenfell was the Mayor of Maidenhead in 1895-96 and an extremely wealthy businessman who owned more than 10,000 acres of land around the town.

He offered to lease some of his acreage near the railway station, which was to become Maidenhead Golf Club’s home and remained so for all these years.

W H Grenfell, later to become Lord Desborough, was one of the earliest 63 members of the club and became its first president.

The club has undergone much change over the years, such as building a ‘ladies only’ course in 1897 and scrapping it 10 years later.

The 90s and early 2000s saw big improvements to the irrigation system and clubhouse, which was demolished and replaced with an improved one to mark the centenary in 1996.

Club president Colin Chisholm has been a member of Maidenhead Golf Club for about 38 years and says his overall feeling about leaving their home of 130 years is ‘one of great sadness’.

He also said he felt sorry for the town’s loss, as the course played host to the Lions and the Rotary Club and had a connection going back 20 years.

It also hosted Marks and Spencer’s employees for their Christmas do and had a strong connection with Weight Watchers.

“The golf club was part of the community in Maidenhead. It’s a pity to lose that,” he said.

To bid a fond farewell to their Shoppenhangers course, MGC scheduled a symbolic ‘last putt out’ on December 31, before lowering the flag outside the clubhouse.

Speaking to the Advertiser before this, Colin said: “I’ll have a tear in my eye [thinking of] all the rounds I played at Maidenhead.

“Many of our members have been members for 30-plus years, and it’s a big change for them.”

Their new place, Mill Ride in Ascot, is much larger at 170 acres versus 134 at Maidenhead, offers a more challenging course, and is ‘arguably a more interesting’ course with water features and such.

It is better for young players, in that respect, Colin says – and he also hopes that the club will be able to transition its community and social functions successfully in the fullness of time.

“The social nights at Maidenhead have always been terrific and we’ll struggle to keep that going [at Mill Ride] but I’m sure we will in the end. It’s in our DNA [to adapt],” he said.

“It’s the end of an era but we’ve got a future to look forward to. It’ll be very interesting to see what we can make [of Mill Ride] over the next five to ten years.”

Meanwhile, there has been much hustle and bustle at the Shoppenhangers site, with the emptying of the clubhouse rooms and a ‘continuous stream’ of removal lorries to Mill Ride.

There, work has already been done on improving the course, including the drainage and ‘smartening up’ the clubhouse. There are plans to work on the irrigation in the future.

David Baker, chairman of MGC, said he is as ‘sad as anyone’ to be leaving but the move at least means the club can continue.

“It could have gone the other way, and we’d be talking about dispersing into other clubs,” he said.

“There’s a general feeling among the majority of the membership that there’s a new time ahead of us now, a new future to look forward too.

“They’re extremely sad to be leaving but they also have a keenness to continue the club’s legacy. That’s a core characteristic of our members.”

Though he anticipates ‘teething issues’ at Mill Ride, the aim is to treat the acquisition sensitively and create a ‘fantastic’ single integrated club that reflects the traditions of both histories.

“It’s going to take a bit of time but we’ll get there,” he said.

Cala Homes has confirmed that work on the golf course site is anticipated to start mid-2027. In the meantime, Cala will be undertaking ‘a range of preparatory surveys’.