The 34 page Golf in Colwall 1908 - 1921 booklet provides an excellent resume of the two golf clubs which existed in Colwall between 1908 and 1921, and gives details of the significant people and events which surrounded the golf clubs.

Colwall Park Golf Club

The official announcement of the formation of the Colwall Park Golf Club was made on 1st November 1907 at The Horse and Groom Hotel (now the Thai Rama). The announcement was made by Mr. Roland Cave-Browne-Cave, later to become the 14th Baronet Sir Rowland Cave- Browne-Cave, who along with his wife Honora (Bright) Fowler ran the Barton Estate where the golf course was to be situated.

The eighteen hole golf course was constructed to start near Colwall railway station, and then go across the racecourse to Evendine and Oldcastle, and finish by coming back by Lower House Farm and Backshill, finishing close to the railway station. The course was laid out at the expense of the Barton and Colwall Park Estate, who also maintained it. The course was said to be 3.75 miles. With the course starting close to the Colwall railway station the first club house was Stone Farm House (now Stone Holt) next to the Colwall Park Hotel.

The golf course was formally opened on 24th April 1908, a day after it had snowed. Fortunately, the snow only impacted one hole and the snow has disappeared by the time play got underway.

Unfortunately by December 1909 Mr. Roland Cave-Browne-Cave was in serious personal financial difficulty and the public examination of his affairs was closed by the Official Receiver at Cheltenham Bankruptcy Court after a scheme of composition had been accepted. These events and the ensuing publicity probably explain the entry in Nisbett’s Golf Year Book for 1911 which stated that the Colwall Park Golf Club was closed.

South Herefordshire Golf Club

In 1911 a new golf course, to be called South Herefordshire Golf Club, was inaugurated. The course would be on the Barton Court Estate but would use different greens, and be managed by a different organisation, than the Colwall Park Golf Club. The South Herefordshire Golf Club would only be situated on the far side of Evendine Lane, and hence a new golf clubhouse was built in Evendine Lane. The South Herefordshire Golf Club was an eighteen hole course and was opened in 1913.

Unfortunately, the South Herefordshire Golf Club did not have a long life as by 1915 the whole of the Barton Court Colwall Park Estate was up for sale including the South Herefordshire Golf Club. The South Herefordshire Golf Club was not sold at that time, it took until around 1920/21 for it to be sold. Between 1915 and 1921 some ad-hoc golf does appear to have occurred. There is no evidence of any golf being played on the course after 1921.