IF Tolladine Golf Club was a football club it would be a Crewe Alexandra rather than a Manchester United.

But over the years this golfing minnow has churned out countless low handicappers who learn their trade on the course before moving on to bigger and better things at other clubs.

County players, Lee Richardson and Sam Woodward, are just a couple of players who began their golfing careers on the picturesque nine hole course overlooking the city.

Nestled in and around Leopard Hill, the club offers a unique grounding for players learning the game, with its blind and hilly holes a test for even the most accomplished players.

The club was formed in 1898 and was the original home for Worcester Golf and Country Club before it moved to Boughton Park in the 1920s.

After a brush with Severn Trent in the late 1970s when the utilities giant wanted to put a unique water feature on the course (a 12-million-gallon reservoir) which would have swamped several holes, the club has survived to celebrate its centenary three years ago.

It has a friendly approachable attitude and has a rich history of characters such as well-known local window cleaner, Jacky Hall, who captained the club in the early 1970s.

Other characters included Rex 'I'm here for a competitive18 holes' Harley who captained the club in the late 1960s.

In recent years the explosion in golf clubs around Worcester has put extra pressure on lots of clubs to fill membership and Tolladine is no exception.

Current club president Arthur Kupfer, who joined the club in 1968, is keen to recruit more players to the club.

"I think the future is bright providing we can attract players," he said.

"There are something like 12 courses in a 10-mile radius of the city and we accept we are going to lose some every year to other clubs.

"But this is a great place to learn the game.

"It is a thinkers course where you learn all sorts of shots, uphill and downhill lies and all sorts which is why when people go to other courses they get better.

"It is a very challenging course built around the hill with a lot of blind holes so it is pretty tricky.

"People who come and play here have all gone onto become good golfers and we must have produced over 50 single and low handicappers in my time," he added.

"In the early days we used to take people from all walks of life who had never played the game before.

"But in recent years there has been a golf club explosion and we are struggling for members."

Anyone interested in joining Tolladine can visit between 8pm-9pm on Wednesdays.