Golf clubs

The story of Piltdown Golf Club has some unusual features. First, it was initiated in 1904 by Count Munster, a German aristocrat who lived in nearby Maresfield Park. He persuaded the owners of Piltdown Common to lease some of their land, and hired one of his tenants, a farmer named George Varnum, to carve a course out of the wild gorse and heather. Miraculously Varnum had ten holes ready in a few months. The famous Open Champion JH Taylor completed the eighteen a few years later. Varnum was the first greenkeeper, his wife the steward, and their farmhouse became the clubhouse - much extended now but still distinctly reflecting its origins. The Varnums̍ daughter married the first pro, Ted Blunden, and since his retirement in 1963 there have been only two other professionals.