The course will be used to entertain dealers and clients and could be used to host major tournaments.

The 7,150 yard course will be built on 240 acres of countryside to the south of JCB’s Rocester headquarters and be completed in 2018.

The course will be designed by European Golf Design who were responsible for the 2010 course at Celtic Manor which hosted the Ryder Cup.

The currently derelict Woodseat Hall will be at the heart of the scheme with the 18th Century mansion set to become the new clubhouse complete with a new luxury spa, leisure facility and five-star hotel-style accommodation for visiting  JCB guests.

Lord Bamford said: “As part of our plans to increase manufacturing capacity and grow sales, we need to build an even stronger awareness of the JCB brand around the world.

“Golf is a truly global sport and is a perfect fit for JCB as a global manufacturer as we look to develop strong relationships with customers and dealers worldwide.

“I’m not a golfer myself but I’m excited by the opportunity it presents us in driving our future plans for business growth.”

JCB Chief Executive Officer Graeme Macdonald said: “The golf course will be the biggest marketing tool available to JCB in its history, helping grow sales and create jobs.

“If the course were to host a major tournament, the television coverage would certainly put the JCB brand firmly on the world stage.

“It would also help to raise the profile of Staffordshire and promote the county as a tourist destination to millions of people around the world.”

European Golf Design’s course architect for the JCB course, Robin Hiseman, said: “We were asked to create a premier tour-proven golf course to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with the very best contemporary golf course designs in the UK.

“We are very confident that our design meets this requirement, taking full advantage of a rich landscape that includes deciduous woodland, classic English farmland and historic parkland with many arboretum-standard specimen trees.

“The course design, which is burgeoning with imaginative design concepts, will twist and turn around the natural contours of the site, dipping in and out of the woodlands and involving the existing water features in a range of exciting ways, including the spectacular and unique Par 3 17th hole, which plays onto an existing wooded island in the South Lake.

“We are looking forward to building this JCB course, and as you might expect, JCB machines will be doing all of the work in what will be a 240-acre shop window for its product range.”

The new golf course – which is subject to planning consent – will be made available mainly to JCB’s network of 770 global dealers.