Belton Park Golf Club (Brownlow)

Belton Park Golf Club came into existence in 1890, making it the oldest club in Lincolnshire. The club’s initial course was a 9-hole affair, laid out on land made available by Lord Brownlow, who became the inaugural president. By 1908, the golfing layout had been extended to eighteen holes which stretched over 5,416 yards.

The club was closed during the Great War years, with the course used as an army camp and the clubhouse converted into an officers’ mess. When the war ended, the Notts professional Tom Williamson was called upon to redesign the layout and it opened with an exhibition match involving Harry Vardon, Ted Ray, Arthur Havers and Tom Williamson in 1923.

The course remained open during World War II and the club was used by airmen from the USAAF base at Barkston Heath, some of whom managed to supply the club with golf balls flown in from overseas. After the war, the greens were fenced off to prevent damage from grazing sheep and deer and it took until 1975 to remove these obstacles when the course was finally enclosed from the rest of the park.

An additional nine holes were planned with advice from Peter Alliss and Dave Thomas and the resulting 18-hole courses were named Brownlow (1-18), Ancaster (1-9 and 19-27) and Belmont (10-27). The sale of the Belton Estate to the National Trust in the 1980s has allowed further improvements to be made, including the installation of fairway irrigation in the late 1990s.