Golf clubs

The club has a rich history, and golf was first played here in the early 1890s, enthusiasts persuading a tenant farmer to let them knock a ball about amongst his sheep. The fine downland turf and sweeping natural contours made an ideal location, and nine holes were laid out and a club established in 1894. A wooden clubhouse was built by the present 7th green. The first minutes in 1900 record the appointment of a committee to negotiate a land lease, and in 1903-4 an eighteen-hole course was designed by JH Taylor, who would go on to win the Open five times. His fee was ??24. A substantial clubhouse, essentially the same building we see today, was then built.