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1949: - In the Open at Royal St George's, at the fifth hole, Harry Bradshaw discovered his ball had landed in a broken beer bottle. He elected to play; hitting the ball and the bottle.
The Lydden Valley changed substantially when three golf links were established:
Royal St George's was formed in 1887 by Dr Laidlaw Purves, who leased land from the Earl of Guilford. The Cinque Ports Golf Club was established by Major General J.H. Graham in 1892; some of the land leased from Lord Northbourne. The Cinque Ports Golf Club started as a 9-hole course and in 1898 expanded to 18 holes. Prince's Golf Club was established in 1906 by Sir Mallaby-Deeley.
The late 1800s and early 1900s coincided with a period of English predominance in the game, previously dominated by Scottish golf courses and Scottish players. In 1892 John Ball (1862-1940) won the Amateur Golf Championship at Royal St George's. Previously, in 1890, John Ball was the first Englishman, and the first amateur, to win the British Open Golf Championship, and the Amateur Championship, in the same year. He won the Amateur Championship no less than eight times (1888, 1890, 1892, 1894, 1899, 1907, 1910, and 1912) and also managed to go off for three years to fight in the Boer War.
In 1894 Royal St George's becomes the first non-Scottish club to host the British Open Golf Championship and was won by John Henry Taylor (1871-1963), known as 'JH'. His first of five wins in the British Opens (1894, 1895, 1900, 1909, 1913). The first English professional to win the Open, he was one of Britain's 'Great Triumvirate' of golfers, along with Harry Vardon and James Braid. The trio dominated the British Open, with Taylor and Braid winning five times each and Vardon six times. In 1901 J.H. Taylor was a founder and first president of the British Professional Golfers' Association (PGA).
back to topThe British Open Golf Championship has been held at Royal St George's no less than 13 times - 1894, 1899, 1904, 1911, 1922, 1928, 1934, 1938, 1949, 1981, 1985, 1993, and 2003. The Cinque Ports Golf Club has held it twice, in 1909 and 1920. The club would have also held the Open in 1938 and 1949 but flooding caused the event to be transferred to Royal St George's. Prince's hosted the Open Championship in 1932. During the tournament, qualifying rounds are played on the neighbouring courses.
back to topDuring WWI Prince's Clubhouse and links were requisitioned by the army and occupied by the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders. Some of the green staff were retained to keep the links and greens in relatively good condition and allow the local people to play a few holes. The links and clubhouse were requisitioned again in WWII, and the course was not returned until 1949 as the Royal Marines were considering keeping it as a range. Damage from military activity meant the course had to be reconstructed.
Play continued at Royal St George's during WWI, but on a restricted basis. During WWII an anti-aircraft battery occupied two of the holes so it was restricted to a 16-hole course. However, from 1941 the clubhouse and course were requisitioned and golf was no longer possible.
The Cinque Ports Golf Club also suffered damage from the military occupation during the two World Wars.
back to topRoyal St George's was recast by Ian Fleming as Royal St Mark's for the golf match between James Bond and Auric Goldfinger. Ian Fleming played there for almost twenty years, playing golf with a close circle of friends and staying at the Guilford Hotel in Sandwich Bay adjacent to the course. The club's professional, Albert Whiting, appeared in Goldfinger renamed Alfred Blacking. The game occupies two chapters of the book and he describes 'a game of golf on a beautiful day in May with the larks singing over the greatest seaside golf-course in the world'. Ian Fleming was due to become the Captain of St George's in 1965, but while staying at the Guilford Hotel he suffered a heart attack on 11 August 1964, and died that evening.
In the film version of Goldfinger the golf course used was Stoke Poges Golf Club (renamed Stoke Park), just north of Slough in Buckinghamshire.
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1887
Royal St George's Golf Links was established by Dr Laidlaw Purves, who leased land from the Earl of Guilford. The clubhouse was based at the old Downs Farm, and it was awarded the royal accolade in 1902.
1892
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner John Ball (Margin 3 & 1).
John Ball (1862-1940) who in 1890 was the first Englishman and the first amateur to win the British Open Golf Championship.
He also won the 1890 Amateur Championship on his home turf at Royal Liverpool. Only Bobby Jones, in 1930, has emulated this feat. John Ball won the Amateur Championship no less than eight times between 1888 and 1912, (1888, 1890, 1892, 1894, 1899, 1907, 1910, and 1912) as well as going off for three years to fight in the Boer War, although his rival Harold Hilton took advantage of his absence (see 1900).
The Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club was formed by Major General J.H. Graham. It achieved royal patronage in 1910.
1894
Royal St George's becomes the first non-Scottish club to host the British Open Golf Championship. John Henry Taylor (1871-1963) won his first of five British Opens (1894, 1895, 1900, 1909, 1913) - Score 326. He was also runner-up for four consecutive years from 1904 to 1907. The first English professional to win the Open, he formed Britain's 'Great Triumvirate' of golfers, along with Harry Vardon and James Braid. The trio dominated the British Open, with Taylor and Braid winning five times each and Vardon six times. In 1901 J.H. Taylor was a founder and first president of the British Professional Golfers' Association (PGA).
1896
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Freddie Tait (Margin 8 & 7).
1897
Sea wall breached, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Links flooded.
1899
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Harry Vardon (1870-1937)- Score 310. He holds the record for winning the Open - six times - 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911 and 1914, spanning three decades. Two of those wins were at Sandwich (1899 and 1911). In 1896, a virtual unknown, he had defeated J.H. Taylor. Harry Vardon's brother, Tom was Royal St George's professional from 1901-1911. Harry Vardon won the 1903 Open at Prestwick and his brother Tom came second.
1900
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Harold Hilton (1869-1942) (Margin 8 & 7). The first time he had won the Amateur Championship, although he had been beaten at the final three times previously. He also won in the following year and in 1911 and 1913. In 1911 he also won the US Amateur Championship, the only Briton to win both Amateur Championships in the same year. He also won the British Open Championship in 1892, when it was extended to 72 holes, and also in 1897 (see his rival John Ball 1892).
1902
The Ladies' British Amateur Championship held at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, winner May Hezlet (Margin at 19th). May also won the title in 1899 at the age of 17 and again in 1907. She was one of three talented Irish sisters. In 1907 she beat her sister Florence in the final. In 1904 May was beaten in the final by the multi-talented Lottie Dod.
1904
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Jack White (score 296).
1904
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Walter Travis (Margin 4 & 3). Travis was born in Australia but emigrated to America as a boy and became an American citizen. He took up golf at the age of 34 and he won the American Amateur Championship in 1900, 1901, and 1903. In 1904 he became the first overseas winner of the British Amateur. The contest was a rather ignoble affair; Travis's reception was not enthusiastic. He was regarded as aloof because he refused social engagements to concentrate on his golf. During the championship Travis was convinced the caddy he had been given was not up to the job. At the prize giving Lord Northbourne said, 'Never since the days of Caesar has the British nation been subjected to such humiliation'.
1905
In April Royal St George's, hosted a match between a team from the Scottish fishing village of Inverallochy (north of Aberdeen) and members of the House of Commons, including the Prime Minister, Arthur Balfour - Inverallochy played remarkably well in the morning, but were outclassed in the afternoon - the House of Commons won eight games to two.
1906
Prince's Golf Club established by Sir Mallaby-Deeley.
1908
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner E. A. Lassen (Margin 7 & 6).
1909
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, winner John H. Taylor (see 1894) - Score 295.
1911
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Harry Vardon (1870-1937) - Score 303. In the same year he also won the German Open. He holds the record for winning the Open - six times - 1896, 1898, 1899, 1903, 1911 and 1914, spanning three decades. Two of those wins were at Sandwich (1899 and 1911). Between 1900 and 1910 Harry Vardon suffered bouts of ill health but it improved, and he returned to form and won at Sandwich. He was known for the fluency of his swing and formed Britain's 'Great Triumvirate' of golfers, along with John H. Taylor and James Braid. The trio dominated the British Open, with Taylor and Braid winning five times each and Vardon six times.
1912
English Ladies Championship held at Prince's Golf Club, winner Miss M. Gardner.
1914
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner J. L. C. Jenkins (Margin 3 & 2).
1920
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, winner George Duncan - Score 303. Incidentally Harry Vardon (see 1899 and 1911) was still playing and managed to tie 14th place.
1922
Sea wall breached, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Links flooded.
The legendary Joyce Wethered (1901-1997) - Lady Heathcote-Amory after her marriage in 1937 - won the Ladies' Amateur British title at Prince's Golf Links (she also won in 1924, 1925 and 1929). Known for her amazing powers of concentration, and considered one of the best golfers of all time; she also won every English Ladies' Amateur Championship from 1920 through to 1924. Between 1922 and 1936 she won the prestigious Worplesdon Mixed Foursomes eight times, her partners included her brother Roger, and Bernard Darwin (1876-1961) - amateur golfer and golf correspondent of the Times for 46 years and the grandson of Charles Darwin. He played with Joyce Wethered in the 1933 Mixed Foursomes when aged 57 and famously recalling the match, describes himself as "an elderly gentleman whose name for the moment escapes me".
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Walter Hagen (1892-1967) - Score 300. He became the first American-born champion of the British Open. Hagen also won in 1924, 1928 and 1929. The 1928 win was back at Royal St George's. He was golf's first superstar he also won the US Open in 1914 and 1919 and the US PGA Championship no less than five times between 1921 to 1927.
1923
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Links, winner Roger Wethered (Margin 7 & 6). Roger (brother of Joyce Wethered, see 1922) had previously lost a playoff in the 1921 Open.
1927
Sea wall breached, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Links flooded.
1928
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Walter Hagen - Score 292. This was the seventh time in eight years that the Open had been won by an American.
He also won in 1922, 1924, 1928 and 1929. The 1922 Open was also held at Royal St George's.
1929
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Cyril Tolley (Margin 4 & 3). He had previously won the title in 1920.
1930
The Walker Cup held at Royal St George's, winner USA (Margin 10-2).
1932
British Open Golf Championship held at Prince's Golf Club, winner America's Gene Sarazen - Score 283.
1934
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Britain's Henry Cotton (1907-1987) - Score 283. He also won in 1937 and 1948. Known as 'the Maestro', in 1987 he was the first golfer to be awarded a knighthood, although he died before it was publicly announced.
1937
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Robert Sweeny (Margin 3 & 2).
1938
Sea wall breached, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Links flooded.
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Reg A. Whitcombe - Score 295
1948
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner American Frank Stranahan (Margin 5 & 4).
1949
Sea wall breached, Royal Cinque Ports Golf Links flooded.
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner South Africa's 'Bobby' Locke (Arthur D'Arcy Locke 1917-1987) - Score 283. He also won in 1950, 1952 and 1957. He was a great putter and won numerous tournaments, most notably in 1947 when he won four tournaments in five weeks. He made his professional debut at the 1938 Open at Royal St George's.
1953
Violent storms in January, part of the Lydden Valley inundated by the sea.
1956
The Ladies' Curtis Cup held at Princes's Golf Club, winner Great Britain and Ireland (Score 5-4).
1959
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Deane Beman (Margin 3 & 2).
1964
The Ladies' British Amateur Championship held at Princes's Golf Club, winner America's Carol Sorenson (Margin at 37th).
1967
The Walker Cup held at Royal St George's, winner USA (Margin 15-9).
1972
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Trevor Homer (Margin 4 & 3).
1981
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Bill Rogers - Score 276.
1982
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Links, winner Martin Thompson (Margin 4 & 3).
1985
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Sandy Lyle by a narrow margin - Score 282. The first British golfer to win the event since Tony Jacklin in 1969.
1988
The Ladies' British Amateur Championship held at Royal Cinque Ports Golf Club, winner Joanne Furby (Margin 4 & 3).
The Ladies' Curtis Cup held at Royal St George's, winner Great Britain and Ireland (Score 11-7).
1993
Violent storms, part of the Lydden Valley inundated by the sea. Prince's Golf Club Links flooded.
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Greg Norman - score 267, his second win at the event (previously won at Turnberry in 1986).
1997
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Craig Watson (Margin 3 & 2).
2003
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner American Ben Curtis, ranked 396th in the world, the first player since Francis Ouimet in 1913 to win a major in his first try.
2006
The Amateur Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Frenchman Julien Guerrier (Margin 4 & 3). He beat Surrey's Adam Gee.
2011
British Open Golf Championship held at Royal St George's, winner Darren Clarke with a five under par.
© Lydden Valley Research Group
2006 - 2012