The Cambridge University Golf Club is the

golf Golf is a club-and-ball sport in which players use various clubs to hit balls into a series of holes on a course in as few strokes as possible. Golf, unlike most ball games, cannot and does not use a standardized playing area, and coping ...

club for the

University of Cambridge The University of Cambridge is a public collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209 and granted a royal charter by Henry III in 1231, Cambridge is the world's third oldest surviving university and one of its most pr ...

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 ...

. It comprises the Blues team, the second-team Cambridge University Golf Club Stymies, and the Ladies team. The club was founded in 1869, and the first

University Golf Match The University Golf Match (commonly known as the Varsity Match) is the annual golf match contested between the Full Blue golf teams from Oxford and Cambridge universities. Dating back to 1878, it is the oldest amateur event in golf, as the first ...

was played against Oxford in 1878. Members who play in the

are awarded a Full Blue, while those who play against Oxford for the Stymies are awarded Second Team Colours.

History

Golf at the University of Cambridge can be traced back to 1869, when a group of undergraduates played golf over the heath in neighbouring Royston, initially cutting the holes themselves. This embryo club boasted 17 members, who paid a subscription fee of two shillings and sixpence. However, given its distance from Cambridge (8 miles), the Royston-based club did not survive beyond 1871. The CUGC was officially founded in 1875 by W.T. Linskill (

Jesus Jesus, likely from he, יֵשׁוּעַ, translit=Yēšūaʿ, label= Hebrew/ Aramaic ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ or Jesus of Nazareth (among other names and titles), was a first-century Jewish preacher and religiou ...

), and played at Coldham's Common (in the general area of the present airport) until the club's current home club, Royal Worlington and Newmarket Golf Club, was opened in 1893.

Present-day Club

The CUGC comprises the Blues, the Stymies, and the Ladies golf teams; each has its own fixture list and

Varsity Match A varsity match is a fixture (especially of a sporting event or team) between two university teams, particularly Oxford and Cambridge. The Scottish Varsity rugby match between the University of St Andrews and the University of Edinburgh at Murrayf ...

against their Oxford counterparts. The golf season runs from the beginning of

Michaelmas Term Michaelmas term is the first academic term of the academic year in a number of English-speaking universities and schools in the northern hemisphere, especially in the United Kingdom. Michaelmas term derives its name from the Feast of St Micha ...

(early October), and ends with the Varsity Matches at the end of Lent Term (late March). The CUGC is governed by a permanent President and Senior Treasurer, as well as the Captain, Hon. Secretary, Treasurer, Stymies Captain, and Ladies Captain that are elected each year. Royal Worlington has been the home of the CUGC for over 100 years; home matches are held at the club, as well as training and coaching.

Notable members

Harry Colt Henry Shapland "Harry" Colt (4 August 1869 – 21 November 1951) was a golf course architect born in Highgate, England. He worked predominantly with Charles Alison, John Morrison, and Alister MacKenzie, in 1928 forming Colt, Alison & Morrison L ...

, captain in 1890 * Bernard Darwin, captain in 1897 * Henry Longhurst, captain in 1931 *

Donald Steel Donald Maclennan Arklay Steel (born 23 August 1937 in Hillingdon, Middlesex) is a former golfer and is a noted golf course designer, as well as being a writer and journalist. Educated at Fettes College and Christ's College, Cambridge, he has des ...

Ted Dexter Edward Ralph Dexter, (15 May 1935 – 25 August 2021) was an England international cricketer. An aggressive middle-order batsman of ferocious power and a right-arm medium bowler, he captained Sussex and England in the early 1960s. He captai ...

George VI George VI (Albert Frederick Arthur George; 14 December 1895 – 6 February 1952) was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth from 11 December 1936 until his death in 1952. He was also the last Emperor of I ...

References

External links

Cambridge University Golf Club
Sport at the University of Cambridge Golf clubs and courses in Cambridgeshire {{golfcourse-stub