Thursday, August 1, 2013

Family pitches in to save historic Oldham golf course

Mark Cumisky, 46, wants to add a cafe, driving range and putting green to the Bishop's Park and has already set his wife and three children to work.

A historic golf course has been saved after years in the rough ? and its new owners are? a family whose members are all set to pitch in.

Picturesque Bishop?s Park Pitch and Putt, set 1,233ft above sea level at Grains Bar, Oldham, had closed in October.

Council chiefs, sick of losing money on the Pennine foothills facility, opened it up to offers which sparked fears it may have been demolished.

But the nine-hole course is now to open again after being snapped up by an eagle-eyed Milnrow businessman.

Mark Cumisky, 46, wants to add a cafe, driving range and putting green to the site and has already set his wife and three children to work.

He beat off four other bidders to secure a 25-year lease and is now eyeing similar courses across the region.

Mark, who has worked on golf course construction and maintenance for 20 years, explained: ?I?ve been driving past it for 14 years and I thought it was a real shame the way it had been left to go downhill.

?I saw the lease sign and thought I?d make a go of it.?

Mark, who set up Pennine Golf Ltd with brother Carl, 51, wants to install a 280-yard driving range on a former cricket pitch next door and hopes to start work on it in the winter.

He reopened the 61-year-old course earlier this month and it has already become a family affair. He said: ?My wife, Colette, is going to run the cafe. My daughter, Kim, is working in the booking office while she?s home from university and my son Reece is working on the course with me while he?s off school. My youngest daughter Vicky is painting the tees.?

An agreement has also been reached with the nearby King?s Arms pub to host corporate outings.

Mark said: ?We?ve already had four or five companies interested.?

Coun Shoab Akhtar said: ?The facility was making year on year losses and as a council we decided to advertise it on the open market.

?This is great news for the borough and we?re delighted to grant this initial licence to the new tenant.?

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/menews/~3/ftRqFqtyooE/family-pitches-save-historic-oldham-5390615

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