The new-look Goodwood, revamped with no expense spared, will shortly be unveiled to critical acclaim.

The drastic alterations and switch from members' club to proprietorial status were put in motion two years ago.

Now it has been whisked into the 21st century, despite protests from those resistant to change.

Two years ago The Earl of March revealed plans for a takeover and multi-million makeover which, until then, the Goodwood group of companies, of which he is head, had leased to the members.

As the club's landlord, Lord March said he hoped the changes would make the course one of the best in the south.

He knew diehards would deplore Goodwood becoming a buggy course but is determined to put it on a par with the horse racing and motoring events for which his estate is famous.

After visiting the course with club secretary and manager Stephanie Sherlock and speaking with architect Howard Swan, I believe his decision will be fully vindicated.

There was bound to be disagreements within the membership. After 110 years of running their own affairs, decisions are out of the members' hands.

Some have gone elsewhere for a variety of reasons. A number feared a price hike from the annual sub of £700. Others around retirement age baulked at some of the climbs from green to tee.

Lord March, with an eye to the future, put his cards on the table at a presentation long before the earth-movers arrived. "I want Goodwood to be the most prestigious club in the South and I hope members will feel both privileged and protected within the new plans.

"I am confident that our plans for new investment and development will ensure that the club goes from strength to strength.

"We can create a golf experience which is going to be of exceptional value, a five-star course at a price well below what people may expect it to be. It is not a members' controlled club any more but we will look after the members.

"We want to bring together all the other things we have at Goodwood, the horse racing and the motor racing. The course has a great history. We really want to share this environment with other people."

Lord March says reports of wholesale resignations were not accurate and some original objectors had changed their minds.

Many were enthusiastic. Chloe Court, former Sussex Ladies' champion, said: "It is going to be a fantastic course. I cannot wait to play it."

One of Goodwood's problems was the last two holes which were sited on one side of a busy road with the other 16 on the uplands. A tunnel from the clubhouse area will do away with golfers having to dice with death.

Swan is delighted He said: "It has been a great challenge taking the old course to the modern day and ten years in advance. Our remit from Lord March was that it could be improved in certain ways.

"We have brought the course forward and I think it is the better for it. The operators have a plan to introduce 40 buggies by stages - ten this year, 20 the next and so on. We have designed something like 3,000 metres of buggy track but not wall-to-wall.

"The views are breathtaking and the sixth is a real bonus from the back tee looking south. The last hole, I think, is the best. It was a par three but now it is a par four of 450 yards. As for the new second hole, which I wish was further on, you will need a hang glider to reach the green from the escarpment."

Altogether, there are six new holes: one, two, three 16, 17 and 18. Some have been reversed, notably 17 which is now a par three. New tees have been cut high into the holes along Target Bottom. At the fifth, one of the old greens that had fallen into disuse, has been restored.

The flint clubhouse will be refurbished and the pro shop re-sited but priority was changing the course lay-out.

My impression of the course is a success story in the making. While the direction is upmarket there is ample reason to think that the enterprise will not price itself out of business.

Goodwood could no longer remain stuck in the 20th century and once the lease ran out, the opportunity arose for Lord March to point the way forward.