Cavendish Golf Club aims to be ‘best course in the Derbyshire union’ after smashing funding target

The club called on supporters to help raise £25,000 earlier this month to pay grounds staff and ensure the 95-year-old course is playable when coronavirus restrictions are lifted.

Under the terms of the Crowdfunder campaign all donation pledges would have been returned if £25,000 was not reached – leaving the club with nothing.

However money came flooding in - now standing at over £30,000 - leaving Cavendish with a surplus which they plan to use to upgrade the course.

They are now working towards a ‘stretch’ funding target of £50,000 - which they will use to update locker rooms and make the course accessible for the disabled.

Also as part of a five-year plan to mark their centenary year in 2025 the club are planning a huge overhaul - reinstating the course’s original design by Dr Alister MacKenzie.

Chairman Terry Hayward told how ‘any expert’ on the great Scottish golf course architect’s work would recognise it at Cavendish.

However he added ‘we want to reinstate it as much as possible’.

Terry, who was brought in especially to ensure Cavendish’s survival, said he aimed to make Cavendish ‘the best course in the Derbyshire union’.

The course is already ranked in the top 100 in the country however Terry wants to push it ‘even higher’.

He said: “We want Cavendish to be a community asset - we want people to come and spend a week here, stay in the new hotel and play golf in the Peak District.

“Cavendish should be an intrinsic part of tourism for the whole town and we want to attract more visitors.

“We also want to be an inclusive club accessible to disabled people - so we need to provide facilities for them.”

The course is now open again for golfers and Terry told how last week PGA Tour pro Matt Fitzpatrick had enjoyed a round at the Buxton course.

He added: “It’s great that we’re held in such esteem - we must be doing something right.”

To make a donation to Cavendish’s fundraising target click HERE.

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