History

‘Another of London’s suburbs has secured a Golf Course, the Hampstead Golf Club having been formed with a course of nine holes at the Spaniards Farm, extending to about 40 acres and beautifully situated between Turner’s Wood and Bishop’s Wood.  The present limit of membership, 125, has been reached.’

So recorded the publication Golf in June 1894.  The previous twelve months had clearly been active and successful, following the formal founding of the Club in 1893 on 38 acres of land leased from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners.  Not only had an initial membership been achieved, but action had been taken to lay out a course to the design of Tom Dunn (1814-1902).  As a result under the first Captain, the banker Francis Hoare, the official opening meeting with its associated handicap competition took place on 9 June 1894.  Golf also recorded that the winner of the first prize (value two guineas) was Mr John George Glover.  With a score of 114 – 12 = 102, he also took the sweep.  Horace Field and T.L. Livingstone won the second and third prizes with respective scores of 121 – 17 = 104 and 123 – 18 = 105.

Assuming the competition was over 18 holes and not 27, this scoring seems, to say the least, rather high.  Perhaps this should be attributed to the immaturity of the course rather than the lack of skill of the members.  Certainly, performances quickly improved.  The Golfing Annual of 1895 records a professional record of 40 by J. Govan, the Greenkeeper, and an amateur record of 41 by the Rev A.E. Allcock, presumably over nine holes.

There had clearly been rapid developments.  By March 1895 The Hampstead and Highgate Express could report: ‘The ground of this Club has been greatly improved since the departure of the severe weather.  Drainage on a considerable scale has been completed, the putting greens have received several dressings of sea sand and the sand bunkers have been introduced, making the course a very sporting one, for plenty of latitude is allowed for the perfect shot, but woe to the topped ball.’

Progress continued apace.  By October 1895, the Ham and High could record: ‘The improvement to the course has been very great during the last few months.  A very neat club house has been erected from which a beautiful view is obtained.  Outbuildings for workshops and caddies’ shelters have also been added, and the comforts of the members are now well attended to by the caretaker Miss Govan.  The manufacture of clubs and balls is in the hands of Messrs Govan Bros., who make them throughout on the spot.  The Committee have lately had under consideration proposals for the extension of the course from 9 to 18 holes and have been offered 50 acres.’

Apart from the improvements to the course, a separate major development was the founding in 1895 of the Hampstead Ladies Golf Club.  The membership of this rapidly rose to fifty.  The first Captain was Mrs W. Scrimgeour, whose husband was a founding member of the Club Committee and whose trophy (presented in 1895, and the oldest one in the possession of the club) is awarded to the winner of a special competition open to the winners of the Monthly Medals during the previous year.

It was against this successful start, at the end of October 1895, a meeting of members was held on the occasion of the formal opening of the new Clubhouse.  The Clubhouse was described as ‘a handsome wooden structure built at the cost of £600 by Messrs Boulton & Paul, the well-known pavilion builders of Norwich.  From the front of the building, which faces north west, beautiful views of the surrounding country can be seen, flanked on either hand by Bishop’s Wood and Turner’s Wood.  A balcony runs the length of the building with steps leading down to the garden.  The accommodation includes one large clubroom with 88 lockers for clubs etc, ladies’ and gentlemen’s dressing rooms, rooms for the stewardess and for the professionals, with workshops and caddies’ shelters’.

Nine Holes – or Eighteen?

After the opening ceremonies, the meeting of October 1895 was told that the Committee had under consideration proposals for the extension of the course from 9 to 18 holes.  The agents of the Ecclesiastical Commissioners had offered to give the Club a lease of four adjoining fields (about 50 acres) at a yearly rent of £150.  It was stated that ‘such an extension would add greatly to the status of the Club, and one great advantage would be lessening the overcrowding of the course, particularly on Saturday afternoons.’  That this could be said so soon after the opening of the course is a fascinating comment on the growth and popularity of golf at the end of the century.  At the same time, the Committee said that it would not proceed with the scheme unless another 150 applications for membership were received, to bring the total up to 300.

A Blank in the Records

Sadly, the fire in 1929 which burnt down the first Clubhouse also destroyed the Club’s early documents.  So there is no record of what happened to the 18-hole project and why it was not carried out.  Perhaps not enough applications were received, though the initial popularity of the club would make this surprising.  Nor can we describe with any precision the original layout of the course.  A separate article attempts to describe its evolution in the light of scant evidence from the early days.

From 1895 to 1929, apart from some facts on extensions to the holes, we have little material.  Male membership stabilised at 175, but Lady Associate members increased steadily and by 1914 numbered 125.  A list of members of that year shows a great concentration from the Redington Road and Frognal areas, together with such figures as the Bishop of London at Fulham Palace and Judges who lived in the Savoy.  The list also contains such names as Carpenter, Crosfield and Ruegg – the start of long family associations which were to be typical of the Club.  During this period, the course record was steadily declining.  By 1926, a score of 62 was recorded by the professional G.T. Adams, who had been appointed in 1911 and who stayed until his death in 1947. A separate note records the unique contribution to the Club made by the Adams family.

The Great Fire

The summer and autumn of 1929 were major breakpoints in the history of the Club.  The loss of the Clubhouse, quite apart from the destruction of all the records, called for immediate action and expense.  But this requirement inevitably became interlocked with the future of the Club itself because the lease from the Ecclesiastical Commissioners was due to expire in 1932 and there was no prospect of renewal.  These issues dominated the next few years and the decisions then taken determined the present shape and nature of the Club.

The fire itself occurred on 2 August.  The Hampstead and Highgate Express reported:

           ‘The Clubhouse was burnt down on Friday morning. Members’ lockers containing several hundred clubs were destroyed. The Club room, which was a one storey building of wood and brick with an iron roof, burnt furiously and, despite the efforts of the LCC Highgate, Hornsey and Finchley brigades, all that remained when the fire had been subdued were two brick chimney stacks and a mass of twisted iron and charred timbers.

            ‘George Adams, the professional, said “In the next room to my wife and me were my daughter Tess and my niece Hilda.  Suddenly I was awakened by Hilda shouting “The place is on fire”.  We all ran out in our night clothes, leaving our belongings behind.  If it hadn’t been for my niece we should probably have been burnt to death.”’

The Adams family were accommodated for a few days in the Spaniards Inn.  The club then immediately looked into possible temporary buildings and bought two Army surplus huts for £80.  It also paid out £66-10s-6d in respect of claims from members for clubs lost in the fire.  Either the claims or the payments, seem to have been very modest.  The new Competition Book, which was commendably opened immediately after the fire, shows only five competitors in the Monthly Medal played on 10th August – four seniors and a sole junior.  Evidence of the extent of the loss by the Adams family and the appreciation of their services can be seen from the collection of £160 to afford them some compensation.

Buying the Freehold: The Formation of the Company

To be continued…