In short
- Course
- Tapton Park, Chesterfield: the Markham 18, the Dobbin 9 and a 16-bay range
- Chosen
- 2024, on a 25-year contract with the council
- Invested
- £650,000 over two years
- Turnover
- From £625,000 to £1.4 million
Tapton Park is a council-owned course in Chesterfield. In 2024 the council chose Link Golf UK to run it, on a 25-year contract.
It was not a failing course. It was a good venue that could do more, and it needed investment behind the course, the clubhouse and the way the place is run.
The numbers
- Invested: £650,000.
- Time: two years.
- Turnover: from £625,000 to £1.4 million.
Where the money goes first
On average we invest about £500,000 in a course in its first two years. Most of it goes on what golfers notice first: drainage, greens, bunkers and machinery, and then the clubhouse.
A better course brings more people, and more people pay for the next improvement. The council ends up with a course in better order than the day we arrived.
What you can play there now
Tapton Park has the Markham eighteen for the full round, the Dobbin nine for a quick one after work, and a 16-bay TrackMan range to warm up on.
Andrew Terry put the approach this way in The Golf Business: "We didn't go looking for better courses. We ran the ones that were already there, properly funded for once."
Tee times and the Annual Pass are on the Tapton Park page.