Oxhey Golf Club was a

golf club A golf club is a club used to hit a golf ball in a game of golf. Each club is composed of a shaft with a grip and a club head. Woods are mainly used for long-distance fairway or tee shots; irons, the most versatile class, are used for a variety ...

located near

Watford Watford () is a town and borough in Hertfordshire, England, 15 miles northwest of Central London, on the River Colne. Initially a small market town, the Grand Junction Canal encouraged the construction of paper-making mills, print works, and ...

in Hertfordshire, England. The

Harry Vardon Henry William Vardon (9 May 1870 – 20 March 1937) was a professional golfer from Jersey. He was a member of the Great Triumvirate with John Henry Taylor and James Braid. Vardon won The Open Championship a record six times, and also won the ...

designed 18-hole

golf course A golf course is the grounds on which the sport of golf is played. It consists of a series of holes, each consisting of a tee box, a fairway, the rough and other hazards, and a green with a cylindrical hole in the ground, known as a "cup". ...

was host to several important tournaments including the

News of the World Match Play The British PGA Matchplay Championship was a match play golf tournament that began in 1903 and ran until 1979. Between 1903 and 1969, the event was sponsored by the now defunct British newspaper the ''News of the World'', and was commonly known b ...

and the McVitie & Price Tournament.

History

Oxhey Golf Club, located near

in Hertfordshire, was opened informally on 4 May 1912. The event was commemorated by a match between

, designer of the course, and Ted Ray, who had been appointed as the club's

professional A professional is a member of a profession or any person who works in a specified professional activity. The term also describes the standards of education and training that prepare members of the profession with the particular knowledge and ski ...

. The match was won by Ray, 4 and 2. Ray served as the club professional until 1940.

First World War

A little more than two years after the course was opened for play, the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

began on 28 July 1914 and the war had a detrimental effect on the club, causing 58 members to resign. Of that total were eight women members who also submitted their resignations. Five of the groundskeepers joined the army and still more volunteered but were not eligible for service. Nineteen of the caddies also answered the call for military duty. The club's steward joined the Royal Marine Pension Reserve and reported for duty at Gosport. By 5 May 1916, the war had already taken a toll on Oxhey caddies and greenkeepers with 5 casualties: 2 killed, 2 wounded, 1 prisoner. Among the club members there were 9 casualties: 3 killed, 5 wounded, 1 prisoner. In May 1917, the course had fallen into disrepair due to a lack of groundskeepers. By then some 84 members were serving in the army or navy, and a groundsman had been killed and another was a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person who is held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of w ...

Poor course conditions

The bunkers were suffering from the play of lambs and

sheep Sheep or domestic sheep (''Ovis aries'') are domesticated, ruminant mammals typically kept as livestock. Although the term ''sheep'' can apply to other species in the genus '' Ovis'', in everyday usage it almost always refers to domesticated ...

who were also drinking water from the water boxes near the tees. A fire at the club had destroyed the caddie master’s and professional’s shed but the structures were quickly rebuilt. The winter of 1915–16 had been very cold and it was beneficial to the course. The deep freeze helped to drain the course in the spring of 1916. In the prior year there had been mud problems on the course since there had been a three-year stretch without frost, two of which were exceptionally wet.

Post First World War history

A problem with

worms Worms may refer to: *Worm, an invertebrate animal with a tube-like body and no limbs Places *Worms, Germany Worms () is a city in Rhineland-Palatinate, Germany, situated on the Upper Rhine about south-southwest of Frankfurt am Main. It had ...

on the course had erupted by May 1920 and getting rid of them had become a priority. The course was reported as being in a "shocking condition" as a result of five years of neglect of the greens and damage caused by grazing sheep. By this time the club's greenkeeper had returned to work at the course after the war but his physical condition was reported as "badly damaged". Hunters had been shooting

grouse Grouse are a group of birds from the order Galliformes, in the family Phasianidae. Grouse are presently assigned to the tribe Tetraonini (formerly the subfamily Tetraoninae and the family Tetraonidae), a classification supported by mitochondria ...

on the course but were ordered to cease. By 1921, the condition of the course had been improved to the point that it was selected to host the 1921 McVitie & Price Tournament. The English professional

Abe Mitchell Henry Abraham Mitchell (18 January 1887 – 11 June 1947) was an English professional golfer. Mitchell had eight top-10 finishes out of 17 appearances in the Open Championship, his best performance being fourth in 1920. He was runner-up in the ...

won the 1921 tournament by two strokes from Joe Kirkwood, Sr.

Closure

In 1944, plans were approved for Oxhey Place to be redeveloped as a "cottage estate". The golf club ceased to operate on 31 October 1946. The golf course continued to be operated by the local council until it was permanently closed on 31 March 1952, with plans to convert the course and clubhouse into playing fields and a community centre.

Oxhey Park Golf Club

In 1991, a new 9-hole course was built, which opened as Oxhey Park Golf Club. It has since closed.

Major tournaments hosted

Oxhey was scheduled to host the final stage of the News of the World Match Play in 1914, but the tournament was cancelled following the outbreak of World War I. The club also hosted the inaugural

Vagliano Trophy The Vagliano Trophy is a biennial women's amateur golf tournament. It is co-organised by The R&A and the European Golf Association and is contested by teams representing "Great Britain and Ireland" and the "Continent of Europe". It is played in ...

in 1931.

Photo gallery

File:Clubhouse front view.jpg, Clubhouse front File:4th Green.jpg, 4th green File:Oxhey 7th hole.jpg, 7th hole File:Oxhey 13th green.jpg, 13th green File:Oxhey 15th green.jpg, 15th green File:Oxhey Clubhouse side view.jpg, Clubhouse side view File:The Sphere - 18th January 1913.jpg, Cars parked at clubhouse File:Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic News - Saturday 4th November 1922.jpg, Ted Ray putting File:TED RAY PHOTOS070 - 2.jpg, Ted Ray at Oxhey

References

{{coord, 51.6331, -0.3889, display=title Golf clubs and courses in Hertfordshire Sports venues in Hertfordshire Sports organizations established in 1912