Hillside nine-holer that’s tough to tackle for anyone

The drive into South Bradford Golf Club takes you round Odsal Stadium, home of the famous Bradford Bulls Rugby League team.

The road ends at a hilly and testing nine-hole course which is longer than most, stretching to 6,076.

South Bradford has produced some top golfers, most recently Karl Curran, a scratch player who won the Bradford Match Play Championship last year and was the 2008 Telegraph & Argus Player of the Year.

Tragically, this hugely popular player and stalwart of the Bradford Union team died of skin cancer in May of this year.

The club started in 1906 with holes in the Little Horton area of Bradford, but members were soon looking for a bigger site and settled on their current site, renting the land for £25 for seven holes at first.

Ilkley Gazette: South Bradford Golf Club

The course is laid out on a hillside, creating a challenge for any golfer – a reasonable degree of fitness is needed to complete 18 holes.

The clubhouse, pictured, at the highest point of the course, serves as a community focus and South Bradford has a larger than usual number of social members.

There are many natural hazards to negotiate on the course, and the par-threes are perhaps the feature holes with well-protected approaches to tight greens.

The course has been gradually improved over the years, most recently by the addition of a pond and fountain by the last hole, which perhaps make it a more difficult hole than its position highest on the stroke index suggests!

FACT FILE

Name: South Bradford Golf Club

Address: Pearson Road, Odsal, Bradford BD6 1BH

Website: southbradfordgolfclub.co.uk

Telephone: (01274) 679195

President: Andrew Wilkinson

Club pro: Paul Cooke

Annual fee: £480

Visitor fee: £20 Mon-Fri, £30 weekend

Course length: 6,076 yards

Par: 70

Signature hole: 2nd – par three to green defended by four bunkers

Shop: Yes

Ilkley Gazette: South Bradford Golf Club
Ilkley Gazette: South Bradford Golf Club