Hove in the Past: Brighton & Hove Golf Club

Judy Middleton 2001 (revised 2022)

copyright © Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove
Miss Margaret Hardy, Mayor of Brighton at a Corporation versus Postal Service golf tournament at Brighton and Hove Golf Club. 20 October 1934

Early Days

It is claimed that the club was founded in 1887, although the crucial meeting of would-be founders did not take place until January 1888 at the Old Ship Hotel, Brighton. All the same, the club is one of the earliest golf clubs to be established in Sussex. The original title was the Brighton & Hove United Golf Club, but the ‘united’ only lasted for a year, and was then dropped. The subscription fee for membership was two guineas a year, but in 1898 this was raised to three guineas. By 1901 there were 365 members.

There were seventy founder members, and it goes without saying that they were all men. The names of some of the early members will ring a bell with those who are au fait with Hove’s history.

For example, there were Sir Walter Mieville, the Honourable W. Brownlow (later Lord Lurgan) and Baron de Worms, who was president, plus Mr H. F. de Paravicini who was still on the scene in 1937 when the club celebrated its 50^th anniversary.

It is interesting to note that in 1913 Lord Sackville was elected as president, which only seems right since it was on his land that the links were laid out. The club leased the land from the Sackville Estate until 1926 when Colonel Wishart purchased it and some adjoining land from Lord Sackville for £6,440. The gallant colonel was obviously not short of money, and he lived in some state in a large house called Wilbury Lawn in Wilbury Road, Hove, where the domestic staff included his personal chauffeur. In 1928 Colonel Wishart sold the freehold of the land to the club at cost price, the money being raised largely by debentures.

In 1911 James Baird was asked to give his expert advice on the club’s golf course, and for this he required a fee of ten guineas plus expenses for the two days that he spent there. Perhaps the club were looking to their laurels, because this same James Baird had advised on the laying-out of West Hove Golf Course, which opened in 1910. Anyway, the club resolved to spend £200 on carrying out Mr Baird’s recommendations.

The Clubhouse

The original clubhouse was built in 1890, and was lit by oil lamps until 1929. Then there was a brief flirtation with electricity that was soon abandoned for a Calor gas system. Although the club had its own generating plant installed in the 1960s, it did not enjoy the benefits of mains electricity until 1971.

A similar situation applied to fresh water, which had to be hauled up to the clubhouse in milk churns; piped water arrived eventually in 1962. Not everybody welcomed modernisation; indeed, the famous golfer, Henry Longhurst, was so offended by the installation of running water that he threatened to resign. He preferred the old ways, and felt that long-established traditions were being eroded.

A Gentlemen’s Club

The early members were by definition gentlemen because you would simply not be allowed to join should you be employed in trade. There is a delightful anecdote about getting into knots trying to define the difference between trade and a profession. In the 1930s a Mr H. A. Kinney desired to join the club, but his application was delayed while the powers-that-be engaged in an earnest debate as to whether or not accountancy was a profession or a trade.

However, it was recognised that some men employed in trade might wish to play a game of golf as much as the gentry. For this purpose an ‘artisan section’ was added to the club in 1932 although their numbers were strictly limited to a hundred.

Another remarkable story comes from 1938 when members were politely asked not to use their chauffeurs as caddies because they were depriving the regular caddies of their employment.

The ultimate gentlemen were of course royalty, and on 17 July 1919 the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) and the Duke of York (later King George VI) enjoyed a round on the golf links. At the time they were staying as guests of Sir Sidney Greville who lived in Hove Manor in Hove Street, now sadly demolished.

Ladies

The ladies established their own golf club near Devil’s Dyke, which was limited to 150 members. It seems their attitude to the opposite sex was more liberal than the gentlemen’s club was towards the ladies. For example, the ladies’ club allowed 40 men to become members, whereas this courtesy was not reciprocated until 1971 when women were allowed to become full members of Brighton & Hove Golf Club.

Presumably, the male club officials thought it was generous of them to allow ladies to play golf upon their sacred turf in the 1890s, but it was strictly limited to Tuesday afternoons. It was not until 1909 that ladies were permitted to play golf on other days of the week, although not of course on Saturdays. But even then ladies were discriminated against. For example, if a club member were playing golf with a female partner, they always had to give priority to an all-male party, either on the tee or the green.

Then there was the question of the clubhouse. Ladies were not permitted to enter the lounge, and should they wish to have some food, they could not seat themselves in the dining room but were obliged to use the verandah. To add insult to injury, the verandah was nick-named the cat run.

The ladies club was extinguished by the Second World War. Their land was requisitioned in 1941, and the military decided it was just the place for intensive training, and consequently their clubhouse burnt down. Presumably, after the war compensation could have been claimed from the government, but the ladies club was never revived.

The Dyke Railway

The Dyke Railway proved to be very useful for those members who wished to have a round of golf without being transported by car. The railway opened in 1887, and in 1891 Golf Club Halt was introduced. For the further convenience of members, in 1895 a bell was installed inside the clubhouse to ring when the signal was lowered at the Devil's Dyke. In 1904 two members asked the steward if he would kindly come into the luncheon room to announce when the bell was ringing.

Red Jackets

In 1890 a special golfing jacket was adopted by members. They must have cut quite a dash because the jackets were scarlet with red and orange facings. Some people thought the jacket provided a visible warning to any passing walkers, while others thought it was merely honouring the game, something akin to a red jacket for hunting.

It became traditional for ex-captains to wear their red coat at the annual dinner. In the 1920s a new flag-staff was presented to the club, and it became the practice to fly the flag whenever the captain was playing.

The Second World War

The club was badly affected by the war, what with the scarcity of petrol coupons, and the Dyke Railway being closed for the duration. It was still possible to play, but only from the 10^th hole, which was near to a housing estate and a bus route. There was no social life because the clubhouse also closed, although a caretaker was installed to look after the property.

After the War

In 1948 the club sold a small piece of land west of the 9^th hole to Tamplin’s who then erected the Downsman Hotel on the site.

Difficult Times

In the 1950s it was decided the golf course needed to be re-thought. In fact, post-war all local golf clubs found themselves in difficulties because of the simple situation that facilities exceeded demand. It therefore seemed a good plan to reduce the number of holes. But naturally, any such venture needed money, and so some land was sold off. In 1952 around twenty acres (the 9^th and 10^th holes) were sold to Hove Corporation for £1,600; in 1956 the club sold 35 acres near the approach road at £50 an acre, while in 1957 five acres near the old railway line were sold for £275.

In 1959 Henry Longhurst and Peter Bray produced a report on how best to reduce the golf course from eighteen holes to nine.

In 1960 the club still owned 55 acres south of the present course. Mr Gorringe was happy to purchase 38 acres for £4,000, and he would have liked the remaining seventeen acres as well. However, some members did not like the idea of the club losing all this land, and so they set up an investment company and purchased the seventeen acres in question for £5,250, which was well over the price that Mr Gorringe offered.

The 1990s

In June 1996 club membership was put at a healthy 350, and in addition the club-house was being re-furbished and extended seven metres to the north. The changes included the changing facilities being upgraded while a new hall was created plus a shop for professional Clive Burgess. The Foundation for Sports made a grant of £60,000 towards the costs, and the remaining £40,000 came from the club and other sources.

Another point of interest was the restoration of a historic dew-pond that once graced the links near the short third. It had been filled in many years previously because people used to dump rubbish in it. The restoration to former glory was the due to the efforts of Hove Council and Downland Conservation.

In 1999 the club overstepped the mark by placing a new sign-post at the top of their entrance drive in Devil’s Dyke Road. The site came just within the jurisdiction of Mid-Sussex District Council who were of the opinion the sign-post was obtrusive in an area of outstanding natural beauty.

Sources

Brighton & Hove Golf Club (1887-1973)

Encyclopaedia of Hove and Portslade

Royal Pavilion & Museums, Brighton & Hove

Sleigh, M. Brighton & Hove Ladies Golf Club 1901-1938 (1987)

page layout by D.Sharp

03 February 2022

Brighton & Hove Golf Club