Golf Cheshire

‘Where?’, you ask, and understandably so. That’s the standard response when we tell people where we’re planning to play next. It transpires, that Avro is in Woodford, 4 miles east of Wilmslow in Cheshire. The name originated from aviation pioneer Alliott Verdon-Roe, who bought the surrounding farmland to build an aerodrome in 1924. The site would go onto build the Lancaster bomber during WWII, and later Nimrods, before production was cancelled – by this point owned by BAE Systems – in 2010. 

But what does military aircraft manufacturing have to do with golf? Well, Avro Golf Club was originally for the exclusive use of the factory’s employees, with keen golfers at the site gradually developing the course until it was officially affiliated to the English Golf Union in 1980. These days though, the site is being turned into a housing estate by the heir to the JCB fortunes, having been bought for £100m, with the golf club protected by virtue of a long lease. 

It’s a club that’s evaded our attention for many years, despite being somewhat under our noses. Perhaps it’s their reluctance to be on GolfNow, or the mysterious name, but even when Avro comes onto our radar, it takes a determined effort to get a round in. Phone lines are unmanned, as is the clubhouse before 11.30am, and it’s only thanks to Sat Nav that we find the place at all, down a long and winding single narrow country lane. 

But the somewhat casual approach to operations transpires to be a blessing, as it presents something of a necessity to engage with the few members on-site on the morning in question, and in doing so we discover what a friendly club Avro is. First, in our efforts to ensure it doesn’t look like we’re sneaking onto the course for free, we meet an older gent who provides invaluable insights into Avro’s slightly quirky and sporadically signposted layout. 

Mid-round, and we find someone to pay in the shape of another friendly figure, a lady who by then is staffing the clubhouse, which prides itself on being ‘run by the members for the members and welcomes everyone’. Sure enough, there’s a warmth to the exchange, and the initial frustrations at the less-than-corporate experience melts away, to be replaced by a growing fondness for what’s swiftly proving to be something of a hidden gem! 

As for the course itself, and after a fairly innocuous first hole, the fun starts in earnest, with a sharp dogleg over a pretty pond and onto a narrow green, before a climb to the elevated 3^rd tee. It’s then onto a 510 yard par 5, a tricky uphill par 3, before a fantastic opportunity to smash one from an elevated tee to the expansive fairway below… before things become a little more pedestrian for the remaining 3 holes. But the course is virtually empty, so progress is anything but ‘sluggish’.

On the second loop, there’s a whole new set of tees, with the par 3 12th now almost 250 yards, and a new green to aim for at the shorter par 4 13th. It also gives us another chance to savour the setting, as blue skies form overhead, allowing us to more fully admire the efforts that have gone into maintaining the course. So, despite the inauspicious start – and encountering 4 seasons in under 4 hours – we leave Avro with a newfound enlightenment, respect and affection for this lovely, community-run club.