Oxfordshire’s oldest golf club has begun the 2025 season with a spring in its collective step after recording its highest ever membership numbers.
Oxford Golf Club has increased its membership base by 66 per cent in the last five years, with more than 750 regular players taking to its Harry Colt designed course.
It’s the highest number of members the Cowley-based course – which was founded in 1873 – has ever attracted – and 300 more than were registered a decade ago.
The membership boom follows a period of significant investment by the club into its playing facilities, with several major improvements including green upgrades, a new irrigation system and a waste-to-water unit resulting in a course that is always open for play.
Steve Greenwood, General Manager at Oxford Golf Club, said year-round quality course conditions, good value green fees, and a strong community ethos have contributed to the club’s success.
“It’s a huge achievement to reach our highest membership figures on record and is something the whole team can be very proud of,” said Greenwood. “Equally, delivering a quality course which can be enjoyed in all seasons has unquestionably contributed to the club’s success. It’s credit to our hardworking grounds staff and the team behind the scenes for making this happen at a time where weather patterns are increasingly unpredictable. The Board of Directors have too been instrumental in delivering the tools required to produce a course we are all very proud of.
He added: “There is also a greater emphasis on diversifying our operation using the land and facilities we have at our disposal with enhanced hospitality options, social events and charitable functions for members and guests alike. Bringing our catering operation in-house has also improved the overall attraction of membership, with greater emphasis placed on the quality of our food and service.
“Our complete seven-day membership, junior and international packages have reached capacity, with only limited space available for our restricted seven-day and five-day options. You have to go back to the 1990s to find membership numbers in the same bracket to what the club is achieving today. Even then, our membership base was 100 people fewer.”
Greenwood concluded: “We want golf to be attractive to everyone, which means engaging people of all ages and providing people with a reason to visit our club. We’re ambitious, forward-thinking and won’t be restricting our development plans to the course with other major improvements planned in the coming years.”
The club currently charges £1,576 for 7-day adult membership, £1,166 for 5-day membership, and a sliding scale of fees for those aged 35-19, from £1,476 to £386. There is no joining fee.