GOLFERS in Baildon have voted to sell off their clubhouse to make way for five new homes.

Members of Baildon Golf Club voted in favour of the sale at a special meeting this week.

A buyer was in line but negotiations were still at a very early stage, said club president-elect Ian Holmes, who was keeping the potential purchaser’s identity a secret.

If it goes through, the deal would see the sale of a parcel of land including the clubhouse footprint and a small area at the back of it.

The club has planning permission for new homes from an application it made to Bradford Council in 2014.

Mr Holmes said members agreed at a special meeting that finally selling the land would be a good way forward for the club, founded more than 100 years ago.

“We’ve recently had an offer and members have agreed selling is a way forward for us to make sure the club is sustainable for the next 25 years and plus,” said Mr Holmes.

He said members were also looking at a possible plan to turn an old pump house near the clubhouse into a new clubhouse.

Mr Holmes said the club still had a strong membership despite some golf clubs experiencing dwindling numbers.

“We still have a strong membership. We aren’t selling the land because of any problems with membership numbers or with debts. We are thinking ahead. It’s about sustainability for the future,” he said.

The club’s website advertises the clubhouse as available to hire free of charge for functions from weddings to funerals with “a spacious open bar, lounge and dining area. A quiet snug area, a ladies lounge and spacious 19th with a snooker table.”

Baildon Golf Club, founded in 1896, has an 18-hole moorland course with views over Ilkley Moor, the Yorkshire Dales and beyond, and was originally designed by James Braid, a five-time Open Champion, says the website.

The course is mostly unchanged from its original design and has been home to many players from Ryder Cup players to Senior Tour players.

“Baildon Golf Club prides itself as a golf club with a great history that embraces a modern business model,” says its website.

The district saw one of its golf clubs shut last year after almost 90 years of existence. The 18-hole course at Riddlesden Golf Club on the Howden Rough site, in Elam Wood Road, was renowned for its hilly terrain and spectacular views. The clubhouse belonged to the club but the course was owned by Bradford Council.

The closure decision was made in January at an extraordinary general meeting of the golf club where, despite members’ mixed opinions, a large majority voted with the proposal to cease operations. Membership at that point totalled about 114, half the figure of three years ago.