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January
1st sees the start of West End Golf Club's Centenary
year. Over the last 100 years it has seen many changes
and has arguably evolved into one of the best clubs in
the district.
Sport has been
enjoyed on the turf of West End since the 1870s when
the present site was used for horse racing, and in
1884 the Beacon handicap was run for the last time. To
this day members looking over the wall at the fifth
tee can still see the remains of the old stables and
of course as a further reminder of our racing past,
the club house resides on Paddock Lane .
Following the demise
of horse racing the open ground was often used to play
the old game of Knur and Spell, locally known as the
poor man's golf and possibly the inspiration for a
golf course. In 1906 Hugh Campbell placed an advert in
the local press for gentlemen interested in forming a
golf club to attend a meeting at the White Swan Hotel
in Halifax. The meeting was extremely well attended
and on the 12th October 1906 West End Golf Club was
formed. Hugh Campbell was elected President and
Charles E Fox elected Captain.
Many will have heard
about the gypsy camp, the potato fields and how the
current club house was built from reclaimed materials
from the old race course stand.
West End, with the
foresight of its members, has contributed to the
inception of and supported a number of other
organisations within the local district, Yorkshire and
England .
The West Yorkshire
Golfing Alliance was founded on the 5th January 1923
from within the club house. To commemorate 50 years of
golf and good fellowship, the golden Jubilee
competition was played at West End on the 6th February
1973 .
The Halifax ,
Huddersfield and District Union of Golf Clubs was
inaugurated at a meeting at the club. To this day we
have the honour of being the custodians of the Unions
major honours board and also the early minute books.
In 1947, a West End
member - Fred Stocks - was elected the first President
of the Halifax , Huddersfield and District Union of
Golf Clubs a post he held for two year. His children
are still active members and are also two of the
longest continual serving members of the club.
Since then four other
members have also held this prestigious office
- W Stocks 1962
- J W Peet 1973
- A M A Bagott 1993
- B R Thomas 2002
Sam Smith (Captain
1927/28) became President of the Yorkshire Union 1949
and went on to be President of the English Golf Union
in 1956.
George H. Butler and
John W. Peet also held the office of Yorkshire
president in 1957 and 1983 respectively.
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