Sir Michael served on the Jockey Club’s disciplinary committee and represented the club on the board of the British Horseracing Authority. Famously, Sir Michael was chosen to investigate the 1993 ‘Grand National that never was’, when the jockeys continued to race after a second false start! The racing journalists of the time gave Sir Michael a huge ribbing when he gave his judgement. Besides cricket (he was a long-time member of the MCC), golf, horse racing and hunting, Sir Michael maintained a lifelong involvement with Harrow School, where he was chairman of governors in the 1990s and sent his three sons. Sir Michael and Lady Anne had four children: Sean, Jon, Lisa and Simon. After Harrow School and a short spell in the city, Jon joined the family property business focusing on leisure. Sir Michael and his two sisters were involved in the leisure business, having acquired Redbourn Golf Club in Hertfordshire in the mid 1970s. In the early 1990s, the family obtained planning permission to convert a piece of farmland in Harpenden into a golf club. It was here at Aldwickbury Park that Jon earned his spurs in the golf industry, where he oversaw the creation of the 27-hole golf club and clubhouse which opened in 1995. “Three sides of the Connell family – my dad and his two sisters – developed, owned and ran three golf clubs in the 1980s and early 1990s” says Jon Connell. “They were Redbourn and Aldwickbury Park in Hertfordshire, plus a small nine-hole course and driving range in Weymouth. “I was in my 20s and cutting my teeth in the family business, primarily in administrator/club secretary roles. One of my dad’s sisters ran the family businesses on behalf of my grandfather, while my dad followed his career as a High Court judge and his other sister as a magazine editor.” Jon met Di his wife while working at Aldwickbury Park in the early 1990s. They married in 1998 and have two boys,
Oliver and Johnny – who both very much enjoy being a part of the Badgemore Park Golf Club family. In 1997, Jon and his father decided that the time was right for the family to invest in their own portfolio, and they acquired Badgemore Park Golf Club – then in its 25th year. “In 1997 my dad and I decided we’d like to go it alone, to invest in our own courses,” says Jon. “At that time, Badgemore Park came on the market at an asking price of around £2.5 million. The rest, as they say, is history. “The first time my dad and I set eyes on Badgemore Park was around March 1997. The weather was wet and miserable and yet nothing could dim our enthusiasm. We immediately loved the site. We could tell that there would be a lot of work ahead of us, but we felt instinctively that it would be worth it. So, we put in an offer and had it accepted. And then the fun started. “Badgemore Park was 25 years old in 1997 and we took over literally on the day following the anniversary celebrations. We are proud that in 2022 we will have been custodians of the club for more than 50 per cent of its lifespan and are overseeing its golden anniversary.” In 2001, the company went on to acquire The Drift Golf Club in East Horsley and it was always Jon’s desire to try to purchase a third golf club, which to date has not materialised. But, you never know! Jon has now been associated with Badgemore Park for over half of its existence and is very proud of what the two clubs that he’s managing director of have achieved. “In its 50th year, Badgemore Park is so much more than a golf club,” says Jon. “We are evolving into a country club (see The Last Word), but one with an ethos of inclusivity. “The gym has brought in more than 250 new members and has helped to lower the age profile of the membership as well as balance the male-female ratio. We want nothing more than to make this a welcoming, family club.”
“The first time my dad and I set eyes on Badgemore Park was around March 1997. The weather was wet and miserable and yet nothing could dim our enthusiasm”
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