5 minute read
History
Felixstowe Ferry GC has a rich history being the 5th oldest golf club in England.
Lord Elcho MP, President and founder of the London Scottish Golf Club at Wimbledon, knew Felixstowe well as he was a frequent guest of Colonel Tomline at Orwell Park for what was considered to be the best partridge shooting in the world. Aged 62 in 1880, he accompanied Tom Dunn the professional at Wimbledon to lay out the Felixstowe course across the sand dunes around the Martello Tower, still standing from Napoleonic times.
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Initially 15 holes, sited on excellent golfing land between the sea and the road, the course was gradually reduced to nine holes as this, the fifth oldest club in England, became increasingly popular and the cross-over holes became dangerously congested!
One of our first professionals was Willie Fernie, who was the British Open Champion in 1883 and went on to be the longest serving Professional at Royal Troon.
The Martello course is named after the Martello Tower, which sits proudly alongside the 17th green. Initially the Martello Tower was also the clubhouse but when the East End House became vacant, Colonel Tomline (Club Patron) offered it to the Club as the men’s clubhouse, which it remains to this day, however now for all members!
Left, Fernie. Right, Lord Elcho and Lord Balfour
The Club helped to pioneer ladies’ golf with a ladies section being formed in 1894 with a separate club house and a six hole course on the seaward side of the main links- sadly now all lost to the sea.
It is worth noting that it was from the Ladies’ Section that the most famous player of the Club emerged, Miss Julie Wade, who first played in the Curtis Cup in 1988 at Royal St George’s and won championships all around the world.
Soon after, the Club boasted Joanne Hockley who won several national titles and represented both Great Britain & Ireland and England.
Amanda Hockley followed her sisters golfing prowess in playing county golf for over 25 years and has served as county captain for the last 3 years.
Left, Sir Frederick W Wilson and Right, Lord Balfour
A number of links courses located perilously on obvious ‘invasion’ land were requisitioned during the world wars. This course was taken over by the military during both conflicts and suffered badly by being almost destroyed twice in the process.
James Braid may have had a design input to re-build the course in 1920, with an extra nine holes on the other side of the road, but a local press article at the time stated “Messrs Colt, Mackenzie and Allison the wellknown golf architects, were entrusted with the laying out of the course” and this was supported by an article by Bernard Darwin in Country Life when he credited Dr. Mackenzie with “fusing the old and the new with the greatest ingenuity”. Another club called Eastward Ho! (not to be confused with Royal North Devon at Westward Ho! or the present Eastward Ho! club in the USA) was simultaneously also constructed nearby. However, at the end of WWII one of the Eastward Ho! members acquired the Felixstowe Club and along with a group of golf enthusiasts, invited 3 times Open Champion Henry Cotton and Sir Guy Campbell to rebuild the course, also changing the Club’s name to Felixstowe Ferry GC. In 1965 the members once again acquired the freehold of the clubhouse and ground.
As Donald Steel, in the finest ever written and photographed golf book ‘Classic golf links of GB&I’ (1992) wrote: “Felixstowe embodies the quality of survival that many of our links have had to possess although the Rt Hon. A.J. Balfour, Prime Minister three years after being captain of Felixstowe, in 1889, may well have had Felixstowe in mind when he wrote, ‘My ideal in life is to read a lot, write a little, play plenty of golf, and have nothing to worry about.’ And so say all of us! 7
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HISTORY
Whereas the early members and the Club’s distinguished history formed part of the Victorian/ Edwardian golfing boom, the escalation of the container port of Felixstowe in modern times has allowed many of the present membership to derive their livelihood from the Port and its environs, giving a different social structure from which the Club has prospered, while always offering its invigorating air and an ever present wind.
Views across the Deben Estuary feature Bawdsey Manor, where Radar was invented in the 1940’s. The Bawdsey Gold Medal, presented to the Club upon its formation in 1880, is one of the oldest trophies in England and is still keenly competed for each summer. Development continued in the 90’s – 2000’s at Felixstowe Ferry with the acquirement of the practice area and the 9 hole Kingsfleet course being constructed as an addition, making Felixstowe Ferry a 27-hole club.
Looking at more recent times, in 2018 the Club was awarded England Golf’s prestigious award of ‘Championship Venue of the Year 2017’ after successfully hosting the English Women’s County Finals.
Our future is also as exciting as our history, as final details on a new clubhouse are being completed, with the hope of completion in 2024! An exciting time for the club and the community!
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