Whitstable and Seasalter Golf Club in Kent is ready to meet the demands of a growing membership and increased visitors numbers following the official unveiling a stylish and spacious new clubhouse.
After a four-year project, begun following sale of a tiny parcel of land to facilitate planning permission to complete the initiative, the clubhouse actually opened in February 2020, before the first Covid lockdown caused it to be shut almost as soon as it had opened.
The bungalow-style predecessor, extended over the decades, has made way for a distinguished, energy efficient building housing a well-appointed bar, spacious lounge, restaurant and events facilities, plus premier quality changing rooms from Crown Sports Lockers that all serve to heighten the golfing experience for all standards of player.
The clubhouse design was by Keith Cattrell in conjunction with the club and was progressed to the construction phase under quantity surveyors Cyril Orchard Group.
“The club appointed our building surveying department to carry out the contract administrator’s role of the construction phase to completion,” says Cyril Orchard project lead Phil Reddecliffe, “working with contractors Abbotts Construction. The clever, stylish design features a large, glazed frontage facing west and overlooking the course. The result is that the building maximises natural light levels, even through the winter months. High ceilings, including in the changing rooms, also contribute to the spacious feeling throughout.”
Choice of locker supplier fell to clubhouse Project Director Malcolm Kent. “We browsed various websites and contacted a local furniture maker for samples, but these were not to our liking,” Malcolm explains. “Crown looked the standout supplier and we invited the company in to work directly with us.
“Selecting the appropriate number of lockers for both the men’s and ladies changing rooms was a key requirement to enable us to reduce our waiting list – so too was not compromising the size of each locker.”
Made in Britain manufacturer Crown Sports Lockers has been fitting out private proprietary golf clubs for nearly 30 years and selects timber only from sustainably managed sources, a commitment that chimes with the Whitstable clubhouse’s green credentials.
Matching full height light oak lockers feature in both changing rooms, all handcrafted in-house within Crown’s state of the art factory. The shaker-style locker doors are assembled with selected solid oak and oak veneer timber with flush veneer central door panels within a solid timber joinery frame.
Each locker includes an internal holdall compartment above the main hanging space and shoe storage below to fully meet golfers’ storage needs, as does integral upholstered locker seating and robe-hanging space – the female changing also fitted with two central freestanding benches and robe hanging.
First opened in 1911, Whistable & Seasalter’s well-bunkered links course boasts a 5,300-yard layout, played in two loops of the same nine holes, and the club currently boasts 400 members.
