This club is famous for… Billy’s Bar – golf’s best 19th hole?
The snooker table’s nice enough and there’s a decent range of drinks but that’s not what pulls the punters in to Billy’s Bar at Bingley St Ives.
The West Yorkshire course can arguably claim to host the best 19th hole in golf and it’s what is on the walls that makes a visit here a special experience.
It’s a collection to make the British Golf Museum green with envy – a cornucopia of artefacts gleaned from some of the biggest names in the game.
The clue, of course, is in the title. Billy’s Bar is the preserve of caddie legend and club member Billy Foster. No trip to Bingley can be complete without a scan.
Foster has spent years looping for golfing royalty – counting Seve Ballesteros, Sergio Garcia, Darren Clarke and Lee Westwood among his employers.
He’s gathered quite a collection in three decades on tour and the fruits of that are for all to see in Billy’s Bar.
You’ll find the bib Foster wore when he caddied for Tiger Woods in the 2005 Presidents Cup.
There’s bags used on tour by Seve, Clarke and Garcia along with the bib he wore during the 1995 Ryder Cup at Oak Hill.
There’s an Augusta National flag signed by British winners of the Masters (Foster will have to get it down to Rotherham for Danny Willett to add his name to it) and signed flags from winning European Ryder Cup teams at Medinah and Gleneagles.
The pictures and photographs are equally as impressive – signed and dedicated to Bingley members from multiple Major winners.
Exhibiting the priceless collection was a labour of love for Foster – he even used hammer and nail to hang his memorabilia and ensure it was arranged just right.
So when you’ve finished taking on the wood and moorland layout – a joy in itself – make a point of taking a leisurely stroll round Billy’s Bar.
You won’t be disappointed.
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Steve Carroll
A journalist for 25 years, Steve has been immersed in club golf for almost as long. A former club captain, he has passed the Level 3 Rules of Golf exam with distinction having attended the R&A's prestigious Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar.
Steve has officiated at a host of high-profile tournaments, including Open Regional Qualifying, PGA Fourball Championship, English Men's Senior Amateur, and the North of England Amateur Championship. In 2023, he made his international debut as part of the team that refereed England vs Switzerland U16 girls.
A part of NCG's Top 100s panel, Steve has a particular love of links golf and is frantically trying to restore his single-figure handicap. He currently floats at around 11.
Steve plays at Close House, in Newcastle, and York GC, where he is a member of the club's matches and competitions committee and referees the annual 36-hole scratch York Rose Bowl.
Having studied history at Newcastle University, he became a journalist having passed his NTCJ exams at Darlington College of Technology.
What's in Steve's bag: TaylorMade Stealth 2 driver, 3-wood, and hybrids; TaylorMade Stealth 2 irons; TaylorMade Hi-Toe, Ping ChipR, Sik Putter.
