Scarborough South Cliff Golf Club Ltd (1963-Today)
Trustees Messrs R. J. Warren (Captain),J. Sutcliffe, N. Allatt, F. W. Plaxton, 1. C. Johnson and H. Gaunt were appointed to take over the assets and liabilities of "The Deepdale Golf Company Limited" and "South Cliff Golf Club". The Articles of Association were drawn up by the Club's Honorary Solicitor, Mr V. V. Marshall, and the Golf Club as we know it "The Scarborough South Cliff Golf Club Limited" was duly registered.
The first meeting of the Directors of the new Company took place on Friday 4th January 1963. From that date one body, The Committee, has been responsible for all aspects of Club management.
On 28th September 1966, P.J.(Paddy) Cotter broke the course record with a score of 62. The Club presented him with a silver cigarette box engraved with a copy of his scorecard to commemorate the event. Paddy was an Irish self-taught golfer, with a flailing style of swing which gave the ball a long, low, penetrating flight. He had a deceptive way of misleading his opponents by playing a longer iron club than appeared to be required. This, coupled with a magical short game, altogether made him a golfer not to be taken lightly. Paddy had a short fuse and needed to be treated with a certain amount of trepidation, but he was a player you wished to have on your side. He was Club Champion several times.
During this period a Rabbits Section was formed, its objects being to instruct beginners in the etiquette of the game and to encourage new members to play in Club competitions.
Lifeboat Day was established as an annual event and Golf Week continued to attract more visitors each year.
An exhibition match between Dai Rees, Dave Thomas, John Jacobs and Guy Hunt attracted a large number spectators and raised a considerable sum for charity.
Exhibition and charity matches have in the past been a regular feature at South Cliff, as at many other Golf Clubs. There were Professional golfe who did the rounds appearing in those matches. The Club did not always make a profit from them. In April 1925 the Club Committee decided to hold an exhibition match on 13th July, in support of Lord Haigh's Ex-Service Men's Fund.
Arrangements were made to employ six leading Professionals. A marquee was to be provided and 2,000 1/6 tickets to be obtained. However, at the 17th June meeting the 2,OOO-ticket idea was annulled, a Sub Committee was formed to organise the match and insurance cover to the value of £150 was arranged at a premium of £14.1.0, and some members were to act as guarantors. The match is not commented on, but at the next Committee meeting it was decided that, regrettably, the guarantors would have to be called on to pay the full amount of £90.7.0 to cover the deficiency.
Members now would be surprised to be asked to contribute to the upkeep of the Clubhouse and its equipment. Pre 1930 the Pavilion (Clubhouse) was owned by the Company and any work thereon was paid for by the Company Board. The Club Committee only dealt with the golfers' needs, but the Board did not always come up with the money to provide for Clubhouse decorations and the replacement of equipment and furnishings.
It was not until after the present administration - Scarborough South Cliff Golf Club Ltd. - was formed in 1963 that the finances began to be managed with a view to the future development of the Club. Before that time money was found when the need arose by members chipping in, and a Social Committee maintained a fund to help. When a new bar was installed in the lounge in the 1950s it was paid for from the social fund. It took a few years after the 1962 changes before the Committee got the finances into some kind of stable order. In 1966 when the Committee appealed for contributions to replace wicker chairs and settees in the lounge, which were the originals from 1930, £276 was donated and some of the old furniture was bought by Members. From the very beginning members have made gifts to the Club; one gave tyres for a cart, as is recorded elsewhere, one gave a mowing machine. tools were also contributed. Sometimes the Board of Directors loaned money to the Club Committee for improvements. Proceeds from the gaming machines sometimes went into the social fund.
It was not until the 1970s that the Ladies section stopped providing such items as carpets and curtains for their own lounge and paying for the decor in there. the Club Committee taking that responsibility over.
At one time the ladies ran a fundraising effort to help with the purchase of a tractor.
In November 1952 a television set was rented at £4 per month. By December the television viewers were complaining that the bridge players were spoiling their pleasure. Despite the disputes it caused the set was attracting Members to the Club, particularly on Saturday evenings, and the bar receipts showed a marked improvement. The effect was so good that a set was purchased on H.P. at a cost of almost £100 (early television sets were not cheap, considering that a Greenkeeper would be paid less than £8 per week). Discussions on the television and its impact on the Members and their varying interests took up a lot of Committee time and it was some months before a permanent place was found for it. When the time came that the television needed repairs (televisions were fickle creatures) an appeal went out for subscriptions to pay for the repair, £20 being needed. Television has not been a continuous facility. In 1977 a colour set was installed but after that the facility was intermittent, and it was not until the 1990s that television became permanent. Before golf was regularly shown on television, film shows on golf were frequently held and were very popular. Roulette was also popular when played on alternate Saturday evenings. Roulette was stopped in 1969 when the licence to operate became too expensive (£2,000). It was later found that a licence was not required if the bank did not take a cut.
Quick Link Time Cycles
1962/63 Alliance Winners:J. Sutcliffe, J. Tamblin, R. Wood, J. C. Wilson, L.C. Johnson, E. McCullough, H. Willis, W. Branch, R.J. Warren (Captain), C. B. Westerman (Professional), F. Scott.
Minutes - 1981
AGM. A Committee proposal that five-day membership be introduced was defeated. At that meeting a new category of member was proposed by the Committee and approved, in that the spouse of a full playing member automatically becomes a house member entitled to use the full facilities of the clubhouse
Interest Item
Gentlemen have been competing in a Club Championship competition since the earliest times. In 1910, Club Captain E. H. Rudgard gave a trophy to be played for by Gentlemen over thirty six holes of stroke play off scratch. That trophy went missing and in 1950 J.O. Rudgard provided a second trophy which also was lost. Now we play for the mounted driver (19th) donated by John Jarman in 1963 and the Championship Trophy by J.M.F. Williamson donated in 1966. While there was a strong interest by members to enter for the Championship, usually only players who had scored reasonably well in the first round took part in the second. To this end in 1980 Jack Oates and Gordon Shepherd donated trophies for the best gross scores on the first and second rounds respectively. This kept the interest going for all the competitors and subsequently the Committee Cup was added. In 1999 two further trophies were donated, the Deepdale Cup (Paul Ridley) first round net, and the Matthews Salver (Tom Matthews) second round net. The six trophies give a realistic chance for every competitor to win a trophy of some significance on Club Championship day. It is quite feasible that the winner of the Championship Trophy might not win any of the subsidiary trophies.