'It's a very exciting time for us' - Suffolk golf club plans submitted

Aldeburgh Golf Club's plans include addressing safety concerns and altering some of the holes.

The club is working with renowned golf architects Mackenzie and Ebert, who have been involved with some of the most highly ranked courses in the world, including eight of the ten British Open venues.

A visualisation of the proposed new seventh hole. (Image: Mackenzie & Ebert)

The club was founded in 1884, and is home to England's second oldest maritime heathland course. It is also believed to be the first golf club in the world where women have always had equal membership and playing rights with the men.

President of Aldeburgh Golf Club - Tim Rowan-Robinson - said: “For some time we’ve been slightly concerned about the risk to the traffic coming down the road beside the golf course.

“We felt that this is a good opportunity to alleviate that risk permanently.

“We’ve got an extra 40 acres of what’s currently unused land next to the current holes.

A visualisation of the proposed new sixth hole. (Image: Mackenzie & Ebert)

“The plan is to build two new holes on that land and adjust a couple of other holes in order to make the course safer and at the same time make it considerably better and more interesting.

“It’s a wonderful golf course but there are a couple of things which we’d always liked to have improved, and by doing this we’ll be able to do so.

“So it’s a very exciting time for us.

“The course hasn’t been significantly changed for 100 years, so this is a big move for the club."

Mr Rowan-Robinson said the plans have been in the works for two years - and will utilise land that has been owned by the club since before the second world war.

He said that the plans will hopefully appeal to more visitors as well as make it more likely for the club to host national tournaments.

“The main purpose is to make the most of the land that we’ve got and make the course safer for the future.

“The other thing is the game has changed so much - people hit the ball much further than they used to.

“You need to adjust to the technology that’s being used in the game," he added.

Visualisation of the proposed new second hole. (Image: Mackenzie & Ebert)

Another look at the proposed new second hole. (Image: Mackenzie & Ebert)

There have been some concerns raised over the project, including by a neighbour, who in their objection said they were concerned about the sustainability of the scheme, the effect on the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty), and noise amongst other things.

However, Mr Rowan-Robinson said the club is "very environmentally aware", adding: “There are bound to be environmental issues and what we’ve done is used a whole host of ecological consultants to make sure that if we are doing any damage we rectify that with other work that we do.

“We’ve always been very conscious of blending the course with the environment – and we’ll continue to do that.

“We’re being very conscious of our obligation to look after the countryside."

Councillor Tom Daly said: “The acid grassland, ancient hedgerow features of the expansion site are great rarities in the local and Suffolk landscape and should be preserved at all costs.

"If this expansion does go ahead I would trust that Aldeburgh Golf Club will consider (suggested) alternatives that would leave these landscape features intact”.

Mr Rowan-Robinson said the club are "hugely excited" to start the project as soon as possible - with the hope of having the new holes playable by Autumn 2024 or early 2025.

The club president added that there should be “very little disruption when the work is being done – so we can continue to play the course almost exactly as it is until we’ve completed all the adjustments."