Bromborough Golf Club

Like many golf clubs, the early days of Bromborough are not accurately recorded. Their Centenary book refers to a meeting at a Bromborough school in 1903 at which a plan was agreed to form a club on a 9 hole course that had been built by the Hassall family who were local farmers. It was decided that the annual subscription should be one guinea and the initial membership target of 100 was soon reached. In 1904 a local landowner, Major Herbert Lancelyn Green, was elected as the first Captain and in the following year his daughter became the first Captain of the Ladies Section.

The Hassall family were tenants of the Earl of Shrewsbury who owned the land and who subsequently sold it to William Hesketh Lever in 1911. He later became the first Viscount Leverhulme whose interest in golf continued through three successive Viscount Leverhulmes until the death of the last holder of the title in 2000. William Hesketh Lever was elected the first club President in 1912 and the Presidency continued through William Hulme Lever and Philip William Bryce Lever the second and third Viscounts. William Hulme Lever was Captain for three successive years from 1920 to 1922 and Philip William Lever was Captain in 1949. The latter generously donated two acres of land to the club on which to build a new Clubhouse. The Leverhulme estates still own most of the land through a family Trust.

Golf was suspended during the first World War and in 1915 the old clubhouse was converted by the Red Cross into a military hospital. It was fitted out with some of the most modern equipment available at that time with accommodation for an average of 160 beds. A total of 1,245 patients were treated at the hospital before it was handed back to the golf club in 1919.

The restoration of the golf course after the war coincided with its expansion from 9 to 18 holes and the clubhouse, built after the original had been destroyed by fire in 1910, was extended and improved. The club enjoyed a period of relative stability until war again intervened in 1939. This time the impact was even more severe due to its proximity to Hooton aerodrome and the whole course was lost to the war effort. Concrete roads were constructed to build a base for the American forces and the course was used as a build-up for the D-Day landings in France.

Britain’s first motorways were built in 1955 and golf courses were prime targets for the new routes. In the late 1960’s Huyton & Prescot and Bromborough simultaneously lost land to their respective local authorities and both were fortunate to be compensated with new land and new holes designed by Hawtree & Son. Bromborough lost four holes to the M53 and was temporarily reduced to 15 holes until re-opening in its present form in 1972. Good course management and tree planting since then have created one of the most testing courses on the Wirral, producing some outstanding men and women golfers and being regularly used by The Cheshire County Union for its competitions.

Bromborough was a founder member of the Society and has produced three Captains, Frank Hayes (1964/65), Harry Wellings (1981/82) and David Kerr (1994/95).

Bromborough Golf Club Captains

Year Captain Year Captain Year Captain
1904 H L Green 1946 D G H Jones 1988 J W Horrigan
1905 H L Green 1947 D G H Jones 1989 J Neville
1906 R Johnston 1948 D G H Jones 1990 A Rimmer
1907 R Johnston 1949 Hon P W Lever 1991 J Forbes
1908 Z I Bradbury 1950 J E Hassall 1992 R J Taylor
1909 C H Bushell 1951 G Wallace 1993 T Collins
1910 W S Williamson 1952 F D Hayes 1994 A P Brady
1911 S G Wood 1953 T T Lunt 1995 K D Bowman
1912 S M Hutchinson 1954 C Dalzell 1996 N H Withers
1913 H Montgomery 1955 W N Stokoe 1997 D M Griffiths
1914 W Johnston 1956 W G Cheshire 1998 M R O’Neill
1915 W Johnston 1957 R D Dowell 1999 D A Griffiths
1916 W Johnston 1958 M F Yarwood 2000 W H Range
1917 W Johnston 1959 R G French 2001 A S Mackay
1918 W Johnston 1960 H W Morgan 2002 W Lally
1919 W Johnston 1961 G B Brigham 2003 C J Garrett
1920 Hon W Hulme Lever 1962 T Kennan 2004 B D Gainer
1921 Hon W Hulme Lever 1963 L Harrison 2005 J P Jones
1922 Hon W Hulme Lever 1964 W Fairclough 2006 T D Holmes
1923 T S Fogg 1965 J R Dodds 2007 D Faulkener
1924 H F Fernie 1966 W Lomas 2008 P J Stones
1925 L Ravenscroft 1967 A M Moult 2009 G W Scott
1926 J A Bewley 1968 H Wellings 2010 R J Evans
1927 G S MacKay 1969 F Aspden 2011 D H Munro
1928 F Buckley 1970 C W Hancock 2012 P Darch
1929 G A L Green 1971 C H Mohin 2013 J J Colligan
1930 A J Hodgson 1972 E P Lancashire 2014 M G Heathfield
1931 J E Gordon 1973 W H Jones 2015 H Dawson
1932 F J Baslam 1974 L R Graham 2016 J Graham
1933 R F Hindle 1975 J Harper 2017 R Newnes
1934 A Davies 1976 H Nicholson 2018 B L Dingwall
1935 H G Alexander 1977 N F Nathanson 2019 H L Jones
1936 W Lees Evans 1978 D B Kerr 2020 C R Syvret
1937 J Wilson 1979 E A Kimpton 2021 C R Syvret
1938 L O B Harding 1980 T H Griffiths 2022 D Helsby
1939 D G H Jones 1981 M Robertson 2023 R A Jarvis
1940 D G H Jones 1982 N M Edwards 2024 G P Swaby
1941 D G H Jones 1983 P E Jones    
1942 D G H Jones 1984 A Smith    
1943 D G H Jones 1985 L H Anderson    
1944 D G H Jones 1986 C A Abbott    
1945 D G H Jones 1987 G A Hughes