Royal North Devon Golf Club, Northam (geograph 4043995)

Royal North Devon Golf Club, commonly abbreviated as RND, was founded in 1864, and is the oldest golf course in

England England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...

. The course was designed by Scottish golfer

Old Tom Morris Thomas Mitchell Morris (16 June 1821 – 24 May 1908), otherwise known as Old Tom Morris, and The Grand Old Man of Golf, was a Scottish golfer. He was born in St Andrews, Fife, the "home of golf" and location of the St Andrews Links, and died ...

Geography

RND is located on Northam Burrows between Northam and

Westward Ho! Westward Ho! is a seaside village near Bideford in Devon, England. The A39 road provides access from the towns of Barnstaple, Bideford, and Bude. It lies at the south end of Northam Burrows and faces westward into Bideford Bay, opposite Sau ...

Northam Burrows is

common land Common land is land owned by a person or collectively by a number of persons, over which other persons have certain common rights, such as to allow their livestock to graze upon it, to collect Wood fuel, wood, or to cut turf for fuel. A person ...

and was notified as a

Site of Special Scientific Interest A Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in Great Britain or an Area of Special Scientific Interest (ASSI) in the Isle of Man and Northern Ireland is a conservation designation denoting a protected area in the United Kingdom and Isle of ...

in 1988. Golfers share the environment with sheep, ponies and walkers. In January 2018 part of the seventh green was washed away during

Storm Eleanor Storm Eleanor (known as Cyclone Burglind in Germany) was an extratropical cyclone and European windstorm that affected Ireland, the United Kingdom, France, Benelux, Germany, Austria and Switzerland on the 2–3 January 2018. The storm caused exte ...

and there is disagreement between the golf club and

Natural England Natural England is a non-departmental public body in the United Kingdom sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. It is responsible for ensuring that England's natural environment, including its land, flora and fauna, ...

on the management of the coast. There are no plans by Natural England to build coast defences here and point out that the golf club can build two new greens elsewhere and relinquish two existing greens.

History

Three leading British golfers of the late 19th and early 20th were known as the

Great Triumvirate In U.S. politics, the Great Triumvirate (known also as the Immortal Trio) refers to a triumvirate of three statesmen who dominated American politics for much of the first half of the 19th century, namely Henry Clay of Kentucky, Daniel Webste ...

. One of them, J.H. Taylor, learned his golf at RND and was invested Honorary President of the Club in 1957. RND was also the home course for the noted amateur golfer

Horace Hutchinson Horatio Gordon "Horace" Hutchinson (16 May 1859 – 27 July 1932) was an English amateur golfer who played in the late 19th century and early 20th century. Hutchinson won the 1886 and 1887 Amateur Championships. He had three top-10 finishes in ...

, who won the

British Amateur The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

in 1886 and 1887. The course has hosted

The Amateur Championship The Amateur Championship (sometimes referred to as the British Amateur or British Amateur Championship outside the UK) is a golf tournament which has been held annually in the United Kingdom since 1885 except during the two World Wars, and in 19 ...

on three occasions, in 1912, 1925, and 1931. The Club provides facilities for one of the largest Junior Sections in the country.

Conservation

The club was the first to ban plastic tees over fears that they were being eaten by wildlife.

References

External links

Official site
{{commons-inline 1864 establishments in England Golf clubs and courses in Devon Organisations based in the United Kingdom with royal patronage Sports clubs established in 1864

Geography

History

Conservation

See also

References

External links