Golf club closes as land sold to farmers

FROME Golf Club was closed down last month after more than 20 years at Critchill Manor, as the land is sold to return to farmland.

The owners of the land have retired and sold the land to a local farmer, after no buyer was found for the golf course.

Club secretary Juliet Vowell said, “As a family we are sad that despite plenty of interest in the golf property and other development ideas, we have not had any offers to keep it going after the vast amount of time and effort in creating what we thought was a beautiful and successful club.

“We would like to thank  all our members for their support over the last 20-plus years and hope that they are able to continue their love of the game in the future.”

The club first opened in 1992, and was developed continuously including an extension to the layout, intensive tree planting programme, the addition of new ponds and sand traps, and the creation of a parkland course.

The club closed for the final time on Wednesday 30th September.

Rick Bird, a member of the club for 20 years said, “This was a great little club with a great big heart, and it had some wonderful results over the years with many members winning county, regional and national competitions.

“The club had a total of 18 individual Somerset Golf Union County champions, and the club teams have had great successes against much bigger clubs.

“The teams have won county competitions regularly and had very impressive results in the Avalon league over the years, starting at the bottom of the league in their first year, going on to win promotion year after year and the ‘A’ Team taking the Division One title in 2012, 2013 and 2015.

“As time was running out on Frome Golf Club, members seemed to have been spurred on in a number of competitions, including the ‘A’ Team winning the Avalon League yet again and taking the Champion of Champions title, putting a remarkable end to a competitive year and the end of a remarkable little club.

“Congratulations to all those involved in making Frome Golf Club successful over its life; this tough course, described in a magazine some years ago as ‘a hidden gem’ will be missed by all members without doubt.”