Trentham Golf Club (TGC) was officially constituted in 1894, however, ladies were already playing golf there in 1891, as noted in the Ladies Golf Union handbook in 1907. The Duke and Duchess of Sutherland, on whose land the golf course was built, were involved in the early days, the Duchess credited as being a major instigator of the Ladies Club, and the Duke as Patron and an early President.
Men and women played over the same 9-hole course albeit from different tees.
During the first decade, a new clubhouse was built on Barlaston Old Road, and another nine holes opened in 1904. In celebration, two international golfers, James Braid and Alexander Herd, were invited to play two rounds on 31st May that year. Braid won the match by two shots with a score of 149 – thus establishing a goal for members to reach. By this date, TGC was the sole active golf club in the Potteries.
Celebrating the Centenary of the Ladies Club in 1991 with President, George Dring and Lady Captain, Phyllis Unsworth right of Trisha Todd, President of the English Ladies Golf Association
Preparing for the Centenary Dinner in 1994 are President Colin Whalley and Captain Peter Rhodes with Stuart Cookson, President of the Golf Union and Dr Marsh, Past Captain of the R&A
Notable early members were Katherine Pigott, Secretary of the Ladies Section from 1894 and the first Lady Captain in 1895; her father, the Vicar of Trentham Church was President from 1906 until 1908, while the first Men’s Captain was the renowned local potter, Bernard Moore.
The first winner of the Autumn Cup (still a current Men’s Trophy) was Douglas H Brownfield (a talented sportsman who had played cricket for England as well as excelling at football and athletics). For ladies, The Stipendiary Bowl, the principal annual competition from 1902, won in 1907 by Miss Llewellyn, was replaced by the Horne Trophy in 1974. This new trophy, presented by a former Lady Captain, Mrs Horne in her 90th year, continued the ladies match play tradition and is still eagerly competed for.
From 1904 membership increased, and both men and women played in interclub competitions or those organised variously by the Midland Golf Association (for men) and the Midlands Ladies County Championships. TGC hosted the second Ladies County Championship Meeting in 1908, and before World War One, Miss Llewellyn was selected the most for Staffordshire.
During the 1920s, investment was significant, the clubhouse facilities were improved, and the course layout was changed and lengthened by 480 yards. Despite the land being held on a lease from the Trentham Estate Trustees, more improvements followed in 1937, when the squash courts and a billiard room were added. Purchase from the Trustees was finally completed in 1962.
An Invitation Tournament in 1925 set a new course record of 69, and a Professional Tournament in 1929 and 1930 was well attended by established players and upcoming stars alike. Braid and Herd returned to play in 1929 in a special category for “old gentlemen” with a china tea service as a prize. Meanwhile, in 1930 the first prize, a silver cup, was presented by the local paper The Sentinel to W H Davies.
Ladies regularly participated in Interclub and County Competitions – establishing a custom that continues today. The Ladies County Championship was held again at TGC in 1923 and 1928. In 1923, the individual competition was won by club member Mrs Lloyd Smith, Miss Llewellyn came second after a 9-hole playoff and Trentham teams were second and third and, in 1928, the A Team won the County Cup. In County Competitions, TGC won the Williamson Cup in 1922, 1928, 1929 and 1930 and the Staffordshire Cup in 1928, 1930 and 1932.
Key women in this era were Madge Llewellyn, Ethel Deaman, Joan Parkes and Nellie Wood, as not only were they excellent golfers but each was appointed Ladies Secretary for several years and had the honour of becoming Lady Captain.
Picture below shows Mrs Joan Parkes receiving the Staffordshire Ladies Championship Cup from Club President, Frank Bell, in 1939.
The Second World War changed the way TGC operated, regular competitions were halted, established members left the area but temporary memberships were taken up by bank officials (the Bank Clearing House was relocated to Trentham Gardens), and by military and medical professionals who had moved to the area. On the course, trenches were dug into some of the fairways and sheep grazed.
Post-war, the traditions of TGC were slowly re-established and refurbishment work was carried out on the course and clubhouse.
Interclub Competitions resumed in 1946 with a County Match against Derbyshire and new TGC member, Dr Stanley Sangster, became one of the leading players for Staffordshire winning the County Amateur Championship in 1951 and featuring in many club teams including winning the County Team Championship (The Frank Scarf Memorial Trophy, now the Scarf Shield) in 1959 along with Geoffrey Marks. Teams from TGC have won this trophy a record 23 times since 1951.
In 1948, TGC hosted the Midland Professional Championship but, club professional, Ken Adwick, was unsuccessful in defending the title he’d won at Skegness the previous year. (Ken went on to author several books including the X-ray Way to Master Golf. In this 1970 publication, he demonstrated the swing arcs of champion golfers by fixing battery-operated lights to the ends of their clubs and photographing their swings at night time.)
Junior, Helen Ramage, joined TGC in 1949 and went on to play for the English Girls’ team in 1950 and the County Second team. Women continued to win county competitions including the Williamson Cup in 1950 (held at TGC), 1955, 1960 and 1964, whilst Ruth Beardmore reached the final of the Ladies County Championships in 1956, 1957 and 1960. Meanwhile, within the club, the Mixed Foursomes competitions were held annually. 
Over more recent decades, TGC has been host to many England Golf Competitions for men, women and juniors, as well as Open pre-qualifying rounds.
Geoff Marks’s stellar golfing career began at TGC in the 1950s when he joined as a junior and went on to include successes at County and International level. He represented England 65 times between 1963 and 1975, with 45 match wins. He played in two Walker Cups and Captained the Walker Cup Team twice (England from 1980 to 83, GB&I from 1991 to 1994) and served as Chairman of Selectors for both teams. He led Great Britain & Ireland to their first victory in America in 1989. He was the first President from Staffordshire of the English Golf Union in 1995 and within the R&A served on the Golf Committee and the Golf Development Committee for many years.
He won the Staffordshire County Amateur Title a record eight times between 1959 and 1973. And, playing for the county with other TGC members – Keith Hodgkinson, Andrew Dathan, Martin Payne and Peter Hodgkinson – won the English Counties Championship in 1975. At TGC, Geoff shot, on what was then a revised course layout, a record 64. Geoff was Men’s Captain in 1995 and President in 2011. His many achievements were recognised and honoured in 2006 when he was awarded an OBE for Services to Golf.
Geoff was Chairman of the Greens Committee in the early 1980s and again, for several years, in the early 21st century as Director Greens. By this time the constitution of TGC had changed to allow for its management by a Board of Directors. Keith Hodgkinson was the first Chairman, and he was succeeded by Julie Wright.
Since the 1970s, TGC has been the home club for many talented golfers, some of whom joined as juniors and were able to develop their skills under the tutelage of excellent professionals such as Andrew Ireland, Martin Hall and Sandy Wilson. A tradition continued today by Ashley Salt and Daniel Hewitt.
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Martin left TGC in 1985 after seven years teaching and based himself in America. Over the last four decades, he has received many awards for his instruction, including the 2008 PGA Teacher of the Year. He has coached players at all levels and is well known to many as the friendly host of the School of Golf on the Golf Channel. In 2026, Martin was inducted into the World Golf Teachers Hall of Fame.
Lisa Hall, (nee Hackney) joined TGC as a junior and was Staffordshire Girls Champion in 1984. In 1985, she retained this trophy, she was selected for the County First Team and won the Staffordshire Ladies Championship. Lisa was selected for the England Under-18 team in 1983 and full England team in 1986. After many successes as an amateur she turned professional in 1991 joining the Ladies European Tour. 
In 1996, Lisa won the LET Women’s Welsh Open, and went on to win three more times on the LET including the Northern Ireland Ladies Open and the Nykeredit Masters in Denmark in 2007, and in 2008 she shot 66 to win the ANZ Ladies Masters. In all she had nine worldwide professional wins, and top 10 finishes in all the Majors. Lisa played in the Solheim Cup in 1996 and 1998. In 1997 she was the LPGA Rookie of the Year and tied for second place at the 1998 LPGA Championship.
In 1998, Lisa married Martin Hall and, despite making her home in the States, she remains actively involved at TGC, encouraging women at all levels to play golf and by sponsoring the ladies’ annual Championship Trophy.
Paul Sweetsur, David Beech and David Lynn won the County Championship in 1991, took the English Club Championship and then represented England at the European Club Championship at La Quinta, Marbella coming third. Geoff Marks supported them as Captain.
David Lynn turned professional in 1995 and played mainly on the European Tour winning two titles at the KLM Open in 2004 and the Portugal Masters in 2013. While in 2012, David achieved his best major performance coming second, just behind Rory McIlroy in the USA PGA Championship.
Other juniors who turned professional include David Blakeman and Gian Marco Petrozzi.
David Blakeman’s early successes include County Individual Champion 1977 and 78; English Amateur Champion 1981 and selection for the England team in 1981 and 82.
As an amateur, Gian Marco Petrozzi was a member of England Golf’s Elite Men’s squad and won two events: The Welsh Open Amateur Strokeplay 2017 and The New South Wales Australian Amateur Open Championships 2018. He went on to represent the country in two leading international events, for GB&I vs Continental Europe in the St Andrews Trophy, and for England in the World Team Championships (The Eisenhower Trophy).
Several TGC members have achieved success at Club, County and National level including Keith Hodgkinson, Steve Wild, David Beech and David Boughey.
Anna Bullock, (nee Craven Smith), was a successful County golfer, but she had earlier represented Staffordshire at hockey, tennis and squash. She was selected for the England Squash team and was ranked second in the world. Anna was Lady Captain in 1989 and Staffordshire Ladies County President from 1990 to 1991.
In 2019, Susie Clowes became the first woman to be honoured as Club President.
Over the past two decades, TGC women have been successful in the Staffordshire County Scratch League and, currently, with four participating teams, they have won the League 13 times in the last 18 years.
Julie Brown played on the European Tour from 1985 to 94 winning the German Open in 1985. After retiring in 2006, Julie joined TGC and competed in many amateur seniors’ events. Her achievements include Captain of Staffordshire County and the England team; becoming England Seniors’ Champion, 2014; British Seniors’ Open Champion, 2015 as well as being selected to play for England in Europe and at Home Internationals. She was Midlands’ Senior Champion in 2018 and 2023, and captained the Midlands’ Senior Team in 2024.
Over the years, many course records have been set. In 2015, Gian’s 65 on TGC’s Championship Course was an impressive achievement. Three years later TGC junior, Emily Brennan, set the women’s course record of 66. And, with recent changes to the course completed in 2023, new standards have been set with 66 scored by Simon Farmer in 2025 and by Sally Sketcher with a 72 in 2026.
In the last few years, a junior who has played golf since he was five, has come to the fore. Amongst Alfie Turner’s achievements to date are winning TGC’s Club 36-hole Championship and Staffordshire’s U12 Junior Championship in 2023; while in 2024 and 2026 he won the Punch Bowl Trophy, (TGC’s 36-hole Scratch Open). 
2025 saw Alfie win the Staffordshire Amateur Men’s Championship – matching the venue’s course record – and he also achieved second place in that competition in 2026. He was first in the Staffordshire Youth Cup in 2025 and 2026. In 2025, Alfie was ranked No.1 in Europe in the U14 category.
Alfie came first in the England Golf Boys’ County Championship in 2026 and was selected to represent England U16 in the International match against Spain. He also won the Staffordshire Boys Match Play Championship – the John Slaughter Trophy – and that meant, by the age of 15, Alfie had won every major Staffordshire honour across both Junior and Men’s categories.
Trentham Golf Club Centenary 1894 to 1994 by Paul Anderton is acknowledged as an invaluable resource and reference in preparing this historical overview. It is highly recommended for its in-depth information on the people, the course and the development of the club.
