More than a century of golf
The course was officially opened on Saturday April 17, 1909, with a match between two of the world's best-known players of their era, course designer James Braid and Harry Vardon - both Open Championship winners - with Braid the winner, 3 and 2.
But the natural beauty of the course was marred considerably during World War Two, with all three military services utilising the clubhouse and land – the course being covered in barbed wire and gun emplacements and with a barrage balloon looming overhead as the Battle of Britain took place in the skies above.
With the course looking beyond salvation at the end of the War it was only the determination, dedication and generosity of Club Chairman Theodore Instone and Vice Chairman Harry Weedon that ensured the club exists today. The pair purchased the course from its owners and tasked the greenkeepers with repairing the devastating war damage.
In December 1948 the two benefactors registered the club as a members club and handed ownership to the members, to be run as a club for the community. After two years of hard work the course was reopened on June 11, 1949 with a match between golfing celebrities Henry Cotton and Max Faulkner, plus Charles Stowe and Kenneth Frazier.
The remarkable intervention by Theodore Instone and Harry Weedon - recognized by a plaque in the clubhouse - was rewarded by the club going from strength to strength, celebrating its centenary in 2009 and continuing to thrive and prosper into its second century.
But the natural beauty of the course was marred considerably during World War Two, with all three military services utilising the clubhouse and land – the course being covered in barbed wire and gun emplacements and with a barrage balloon looming overhead as the Battle of Britain took place in the skies above.
With the course looking beyond salvation at the end of the War it was only the determination, dedication and generosity of Club Chairman Theodore Instone and Vice Chairman Harry Weedon that ensured the club exists today. The pair purchased the course from its owners and tasked the greenkeepers with repairing the devastating war damage.
In December 1948 the two benefactors registered the club as a members club and handed ownership to the members, to be run as a club for the community. After two years of hard work the course was reopened on June 11, 1949 with a match between golfing celebrities Henry Cotton and Max Faulkner, plus Charles Stowe and Kenneth Frazier.
The remarkable intervention by Theodore Instone and Harry Weedon - recognized by a plaque in the clubhouse - was rewarded by the club going from strength to strength, celebrating its centenary in 2009 and continuing to thrive and prosper into its second century.