Of the many theories dreaming up how Whitefield got its name, the most intriguing  - and most attractive  -  is that it’s where the Flemish Weavers used to hang up their fabrics to bleach on the sun.

 

Which may be an odd idea, since Manchester has long been held to be one of the dampest cities in the UK. Wrong. Statistically, it is the city with the second lowest rainfall in the UK.

 

Be that as it may, the Flemish weavers clearly knew Whitefield was a good place to be and, even if they didn’t actually play golf, there’s little doubt that they would have approved of what became of their land when, in 1932, Whitefield Golf Club opened for business.

 

Max Faulkner, Tony Jacklin, Tommy Horton, Dai Rees. And a score of others equally celebrated. All were to add their stamp of approval to the eighteen holes of this north Manchester course that is properly held to be one of the ‘finest parkland courses of the North.’

 

There’s that word ‘Manchester’ again. Lowry, cotton mills, football on a dull Saturday afternoon. Once again, wrong. Treat yourself to a weekend in one of the country’s most exciting, vibrant and accessible cities. Wake up in the morning, take a short twenty-minute ride and find yourself tee-ing off on a course of fairways, hollows and ponds that moved even Eddie Cantor to song. Which is no doubt why they made him an honorary member.

 

The par-5 twelfth is held to be one of the finest holes in Britain. Similarly, Peter Alliss describes the 17th as one of the best par-3’s in the country. Do the superlatives end there? Probably not. There are few holes that don’t offer spectacular views across rolling parkland and, to put the icing on the golfing cake, Whitefield has just opened one of the newest, most charming and most elegant clubhouses in the land.

 

“One of the finest and most welcoming clubhouses in the North West of England.”

 

That’s what they say and few would disagree. Most especially, perhaps, the ghosts of the Flemish weavers, who, as noted earlier, knew a very good thing when they saw one.

(NC.)