Wheatley

Wheatley Golf Club was established in 1914, with its course officially opened on 1st March that year. In the early 1930s, Doncaster Corporation made it known that it intended to purchase the club’s property at Wheatley Park, forcing a move to Sandall Grange Farm. The course was to be set out on 130 acres, using a planned construction budget of £3,500 with a similar sum set aside for building a clubhouse.

The new course was laid out by George Duncan in two 9-hole loops (as had been the case before) to a total length of 6,684 yards, which made it one of the longest layouts in Yorkshire at the time. Greens were constructed with turf brought from the old course and bunkers were built to allow easy exit. After many months of hard work, the course and tennis courts were opened for use on 29th March 1934.

Following the Second World War, trees were planted, bunkers improved, and agronomy refined. A greens irrigation system was installed in 1967 to keep the putting surfaces in the best possible shape and decisions relating to course playability were taken to minimise forced carries and generally reduce areas of rough to a minimum. A full fairway watering system was finally introduced in 1996.

In the new millennium, course improvements have continued at a steady pace, evidenced by the installation of new bunkers on the 2nd, 4th, 5th and 7th holes, with others on the 1st, 2nd, 4th, 6th and 13th moved or replaced. It helps too that the pine and silver birch-lined fairways are set out on one of Doncaster’s largest, sandy-soiled hill locations, which offers great natural drainage and an ideal playing environment.