Baildon captain Howard Thorpe spoke today of his relief that the foot-and-mouth-hit club would be re-opening a week tomorrow.

Thorpe, and many of the club's 450 members, had feared the course would not open again this year because of the foot and mouth restrictions.

But this week's decision by Bradford Council to open Baildon Moor to the public again after last weekend's sheep culling there has changed all that.

"It is a great relief for everyone at the club," said Thorpe. "Everybody is very excited about the prospect of the course being open again.

"It's been a real roller-coaster of emotions this week. On Monday, I was telling members we were unlikely to re-open before Christmas, and the following day the whole world changed when the Council made their decision.

"I just hope they don't close it again for some other reason."

Baildon have been given permission to have access to the course from next Friday and will spend the day preparing the area for a grand re-opening fourball betterball competition the following day.

But the season will still be a write-off for the club as far as their own competitions are concerned. "It would not be fair to resurrect competitions that run all season when we only have about four or five weeks of the golfing year left," admitted Thorpe.

The Scratch League team, who are battling to avoid relegation from Division One, are already committed to playing all their fixtures away from home.

The club are presently seeking compensation from the Department of the Environment having lost around £15,000 in revenue through the closure.