A Step Back in Time
A Step Back in Time
OUR GOLF CLUB’S HISTORY
Founded in 1891
The Richmond Golf Club was founded in February 1891 at a meeting in The Greyhound Hotel in Richmond. The Club leased a course at Old Deer Park before moving to the current location in Petersham.
Being relatively close to Westminster, many of the Club’s original Members were Government ministers. These included three Lord Chancellors (Halsbury, Loreburn and Cave), a Speaker of the House of Commons (William Gully, later Lord Selby) and a Prime Minister (Arthur Balfour).
High office is no longer a requirement for Membership, but the connection is maintained in various competition trophies honouring our illustrious past Members: The Halsbury Cup, The Selby Challenge Cup and The Prince Arthur of Coonnaught Challenge Cup.
Originally laid out in 1891
EIGHTEEN HOLES AROUND A MANSION
The course was originally laid out by prolific and esteemed course architect Tom Dunn in attractive parkland bordering Richmond Park and Ham Common.
In recent years the course has been substantially upgraded with the help of TPL, the firm of golf architects founded by five times Open champion, Peter Thomson.
A FAMOUS TROPHY
The Don Memorial Cup
The Don Memorial Challenge Cup is among the oldest and most prestigious golf competitions in the London area. Winners have included Bernard Darwin (1901, 1920 and 1922), arguably the greatest golf writer of all time.
The Don Cup was inaugurated in memory of Patrick Don, Honorary Secretary of our Club, in the year of his untimely death, 1895. At first, it was contested only by members of the golf clubs to which Patrick Don belonged.
They were Richmond, Royal Mid-Surrey, the R & A, Royal St George’s, Royal West Norfolk, Dalhousie (Carnoustie), Felixstowe, Littlestone and Eltham. Participation has been broadened considerably in recent years, and since 1995, the trophy’s Centenary Year, clubs have also played as teams for The Don Centenary Salver.
The event usually takes place on a Friday in late July, and golf clubs interested in receiving an invitation for future years should contact the General Manager.
ROYAL CONNECTIONS
The Grand Old Duke of York…
In 1924 our Captain was none other than the Duke of York who later became King George VI when his brother famously abdicated. His wife Elizabeth, who became the Queen Mother, was Patron of The Richmond Golf Club until her death in 2002. His uncle, Prince Arthur of Connaught who was a grandson of Queen Victoria, was a Member for many years and presented the trophy that bears his name.
OUR FAMOUS WARTIME RULES
Local Rules that went Around the World
One evening in late autumn 1940 Luftwaffe bombs fell on The Richmond Golf Club. This inconvenient event couldn’t be ignored and some inspired Members produced a set of tongue-in-cheek Temporary Rules. The rules attracted publicity and were widely published to demonstrate British defiance of Germany’s aggression.
Joseph Goebbels, Hitler’s Minister of Propaganda used the rules as the theme of a broadcast by William (Lord Haw-Haw) Joyce: “By means of these ridiculous reforms the English snobs try to impress the people with
a kind of pretended heroism. They can do so without danger, because, as everyone knows, the German Air Force devotes itself only to the destruction of military targets and objectives of importance to the war effort.” Perhaps not coincidently, the Club’s laundry was destroyed in a subsequent bombing raid.
