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WESTWARD HO!: 2023-24 Winter Tour
Sean_A:
Somewhat similar to Prestwick's evolution, Westward Ho!, or more properly, Royal North Devon GC, had its day in the sun over 85 years ago. Although, much to the consternation of Herbert Fowler, RND’s light never shone so bright as at Prestwick for it never held an Open. Yet, three Amateurs were contested over the common land known as Northam Burrows. The first, held in 1912, was fittingly won by the immortal John Ball of Hoylake...his eighth and final victory coming at over 50 years of age. Who knows, if not for WWI perhaps Mr Ball might have won another Amateur. The run of RND’s Amateur’s was over all too quick for the last was hosted in 1931.
John Ball, 1913.
Westward Ho! is steeped in the history of English golf as it was the first golf club to be founded by Englishmen, the first links built in England and the oldest course in England still playing over the original site.
RND was one of approximately 15 English clubs founded up to 1879. The 1880s saw the English game push on with approximately 100 clubs existing by 1889. Even up to the advent of WWI, which encompassed the English golf boom, RND was a bit unusual in being an 18 hole links. By 1914 it is thought 85% of English courses were parkland and 78% started as 9 holers!
In recent years the course seems to be much maligned and this despite possessing one of the best front nines in the country. However, when the club was founded in 1864 and after Old Tom Morris worked his magic in that same year and later in 1887, the course was deemed suitable by the PGA to host an Open. Why this never happened remains unclear.
With the coming of the Haskell in 1902 Herbert Fowler was called in to toughen the examination. When reading Hutchinson's tome, British Golf Links (1897), it is clear Fowler made radical alterations to the course including the addition of signifcant length. Over the past 90 years the course has remained largely as Fowler left it. Hence the shock among the old guard when the club announced a new three hole plan in response to the alarming erosion due to battering winter storms. The club has approved a design by T Mckenzie which will include new holes for 7, 8 and 9. The new 7th will follow the current corridor, but instead of legging left over the rushes, the hole will carry on to a green forward and right of the current 8th tees. The 8th will play over the high ground above the current 8th green...away from Bideford Bay. The new 9th will play over low, often flooded area and reconnect with the current 9th fairway as a dogleg left using the same green. Work is expected to begin in May 2019 with the holes put in play when necessary.
Westward Ho! has the distinction of not only having two of the finest names in architecture associated with the club, but also for producing two sons which were supreme golfers; Horace Hutchinson and JH Taylor. Hutchinson first came to prominence when at the sweet age of 16 he won the Silver Medal and thus became the Club Captain. There being no rules about such matters, HH dutifully took the Chair and presided over the General Meeting. The rule was changed the following year to preclude such youthful influence in the future.
Perhaps unfairly known today mainly as a student, teacher, author and all round servant of the game, Mr Hutchinson was a fine golfer who won back to back Amateurs in 1886-87. The defence of his title required a win in the final over the great John Ball...at Ball’s home course...Hoylake.
Horace Hutchinson, Vanity Fair, 19.07.1890.
Golf can make strange bed fellows and in the case of one house boy working with the Hutchinson family it certainly did. Coming home from Oxford during the summers etc Hutchinson would employ this house boy, one JH Taylor, as a caddie. JH would eventually graduate to the green keeping staff as he learned the game and learn he did. It was very fortunate for the game of golf that the military refused to enlist JH due to poor eye sight; quite ironic for a man with the reputation of straight hitting. After beating Andrew Kirkaldy in the Challenge Match Play it was clear that JH was destined to win on the big stage. Four years later, in 1894, JH won the first of five Opens. Like the other members (H Vardon & J Braid) of the Great Triumvirate, Taylor was a golf all-rounder who was skilled at many aspects of the game. When the British professionals organized they looked to Taylor to help found and chair the British PGA in 1901. It was also JH who captained the 1933 Ryder Cup team to victory, the only Captain from either side which never played in the matches. Golf is truly a blessed game when a man of such humble origins can rise to the greatest heights.
JH Tayor, 1912.
A portrait of JH Taylor hanging in the house.
The map of the course as it was after the house was moved to its present location. Place names such as Goosey Pool (was there swimming in this water?) and Inland Sea no longer seem to exist. Although, there is a bit of a marsh near where Goosey Pool was located.
Players Cigarette map.
The Old Tom Morris design placed the rather functional clubhouse near the Pebble Ridge which necessitated a rather long walk to the burrows. In 1888 it was decided to build the current house above the links. As is often the case, changes beget changes. To play from the new house, it was necessary to bookend the links with four new holes: 1, 2, 17 & 18. These are difficult, but comparatively dull holes. It is unclear who designed these holes over flat, heavy turf, but one gets the impression the goal was to enter and exit the proper holes quickly and with a minimal amount of fuss. Moving to the third, the course turns right and plays along the Pebble Ridge. While the opening two holes are fairly wide, they are framed by ditches and what seem like mini-rushes.
The opener looking back at the house.
#1 is a reachable three-shotter.
Standing on the third tee, it is the lack of definition which is disquieting for some. Perhaps it is this freedom which has placed Westward Ho! at odds with the modern golfer.
More to follow.
Ciao
John Mayhugh:
Looking forward to this, Sean.
I agree that the best of the course is bookended by lesser holes, but still enjoyed those. The first is reachable, but a layup is complicated by the diagonal hazard and the lack of definition.
Lou_Duran:
Four of us played in an open Stableford years ago around a Buda. We stared great witch couple of birdies on #1 then proceeded steeply downhill thereafter. The course is a mixed bag, flat with some interesting features and an equal number of nuisances, but I am very happy for the experience. We did the two or three course dinner option which was what the doctor ordered after a long round. I got a kick out of the locker room and the several well-dressed men visiting the club. The societies were present in force, donning their bright colored garb and carrying on with gusto. Quite a social experience, boisterous but not football (soccer) obnoxious. We had a very enjoyable day.
Tommy Williamsen:
For years I had an overseas membership. I loved the course because it is so different from anything I had ever played, including GB&I links courses. The first hole is over some heavy earth but the design is wonderful. Starting with number three The course just gets better. I know Sean doesn't care for the great sea rushes but they are distinctive to RND. Four through ten are nothing less than stupendous. Five, six, and nine are three of my favorite holes anywhere.
Sean_A:
--- Quote from: John Mayhugh on October 22, 2018, 01:12:26 PM ---Looking forward to this, Sean.
I agree that the best of the course is bookended by lesser holes, but still enjoyed those. The first is reachable, but a layup is complicated by the diagonal hazard and the lack of definition.
--- End quote ---
Tucky
Yes, the opener is complicated by the water at an excellent distance shy of the green. The second is probably the least engaging on the course.
Westward Ho! Tour Cont.
H Rountree Watercolour.
Wills Cigarettes Card 1924
Back of the card.
The 4th, or Cape, so named for the hulking sleepered bunker, looks as if it has been there since time immemorial. However, the Cape Bunker was once far larger, stretching some 40 or more yards toward the tee as an intricate maze of sand culminating in a high carry.
Cape looks more formidable from fairway level.
Back in the day, this photo must be about 100 years ago and demonstrates the far more complex bunker Cape once was.
Another old photo from the 1912 Amateur, won by John Ball over Abe Mitchell on the 38th hole.
There is much hoopla concerning Cape, but with modern equipment reducing its impact, the second shot is where Westward Ho! begins to delight.
The excellent short 5th turns against the flow of the front nine and requires a fairly precise aerial shot.
The bunkers are very different today.
Behind the 5th tee a JH Taylor commemorative structure. I have never seen anything like this on a course.
Certainly a candidate for the favourite hole of many, the 6th is a wild landscape of boundless width and beauty. This is the only hole where Bideford Bay is on display. Across the River Taw, Saunton Sands can clearly be seen. Athough, I suspect views will be available from the new 8th and new 9th tee.
P Dickenson's sketch.
It seems a pity to disturb the exquisite landscape with features such as bunkers.
The great and ill defined golf continues on the 7th. Due to severe erosion, the new three hole plan (7-9) is fully implemented. Now a par 5, a right bunker can be seen from the tee, but another down the left on the short-cut to the green is blind. The sea rushes make a quick appearance, as if to foreshadow what is to come. The big change is a new green further from the coast and closer to the low area which the old 8th played over. The new green straightens the hole a bit. Being common land, the parishioners of Northam have the right to graze their sheep and horses on the land. In recent years an agreement has been reached which limits the number of grazing animals.
The element of rushes was preserved for those who want to cheat up the left. I think this new green green is a bit more interesting than the old green.
The 7th green as seen from the 8th tee. The old green was beyond the rgeen on the right, not far from the rushes.
At this point we are hard on the pebble ridge and can see the damage of winter storms to the old 8th tee area....it has practically disappeared. We essentially walk by the old 8th hole to the high ground for a completely new hole. The tee is above the old 8th green. This new hole is undoubtably better than the previous iteration. The green is far less receptive these days.
In days gone by there was a group of housholder parshioners known as potwallopers. The test of a householder was having a separate fireplace for cooking. Potwallopers had the right to graze their animals on the common in exchange for throwing pebbles washed up to the burrows from high tides and winter storms back onto the ridge. Not long after 1900 the practice became sporadic before it was eventually banned in 2008 by Natural England.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-m5ZuFumaFs
More to follow.
Ciao
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