Delamere Forest
Delamere Forest is something of a hidden gem. Laid out by Herbert Fowler in the early 1900s, it bears his design hallmark with under-stated, well thought out, attractive holes. The course had remained untouched for decades and the Club realised that it was being over-taken by technology and risked losing its position in Cheshire golf. Once commissioned, a historic research study provided the foundation for recommendations that respected the great Fowler heritage and updated the course for the modern game.
Once the course audit was received and digested, the Club rapidly gave the go ahead to rebuild every bunker on the course and to extend a number of holes. In all, 82 bunkers were restyled, re-built and sometimes repositioned, 15 bunkers were filled in and, quite coincidentally, 15 were added. The work was done using an experienced golf course shaper with the green staff doing all of the rest of the work such as bunker edging, soil preparation and turfing. Impressively, this was all done over two winters, meaning that over a period of about 18 months, the members went from old course to fully renovated, allowing the Club to show off its new course quickly. Protracted bunker projects do not allow this to happen.
The chosen bunker style is rugged and rough-edged as this suits this open heathland site. Excellently maintained, it is not manicured and remains a course with no sprinklers on the greens.
