Browse Sections

• Local football
• Local cricket

Myra makes history at Manchester

30/ 7/2003

SIX SCORE and one years after its formation, Manchester Golf Club has its first female council member.

The Hopwood club, formed in 1882, has co-opted lady captain Myra Robinson to take charge of marketing the club. And the 17-handicapper, who joined when she moved from Scotland in 1989, is delighted with the reception her appointment has received from club members.

"I couldn't tell you how many messages I have had," she said. "The council has also been very supportive. I would hope I'm on the council and doing the marketing not because I'm a lady, but because they believe I can do a good job."

Myra explained how her appointment came about. "It was really a general interest. I've always been very interested in Manchester Golf Club and I've always been very interested in marketing. It's something I can remember talking about at an annual general meeting one or two years ago.

"It's a big challenge and it's one I can't do on my own. It has to involve all the council. When I'm marketing Manchester Golf Club I'm marketing the course," she added

Myra also believes this is a good time to be selling the club which has 20 vacancies for five-day members. "There is no doubt the course is back on the right track," she said.

"You only have to listen to the visitors to the club. They confirm the course is in much better condition than this time last year. We just need to get people into the club and they will see how good things are."

Manchester captain Jack Taylor has worked alongside Myra at the club for the past 18 months and feels her arrival on Council is a positive step.

He said: "We were vice-captains and are now captains together, so it makes it even more special for me. I think a lady member of the council has been long overdue. The ladies are a representative part of the club. Myra's got certain abilities that will be very helpful to the club in marketing.

"So when the council was looking to co-opt someone, the choice of Myra was unanimously supported. The club needs to be marketed. It's perhaps suffered in its reputation over recent years, partly justified, partly not. We need to put that right by getting the course in the right shape and this is well underway.

"We want it back to the quality of course it used to be in the 1980s and Myra's going to play an important part in getting the message across. Bad news travels quickly, good news not so quickly, and we are very confident Myra will do a great job spreading the good news."