Golf North » Golfing Great

Grantown-On-Spey Golf Club

Jack Rayner — Mon, 12 Apr 2021 10:34:29 +0000

Established in 1890 Grantown-on-Spey Golf Club is one of the finest golf venues in Cairngorm National Park area. The course was designed by Willie Park with assistance from James Braid. Situated in the Cairngorm National Park, the course is approximately thirty five miles south east of Inverness. Grantown is the capital of Strathspey and is a small and friendly town with a grand history of tourism.

Nestled in leafy parkland looking onto the Cairngorm mountains, Grantown has one superb 18-hole golf course, very different in style, character and golfing challenge which attracts many golfing societies due to its charm and playability factor. There is also a traditional Clubhouse offering hearty meals and tipples overlooking the first tee. Lewis Ware Head PGA Professional. Lewis provides a fully stocked PGA Professional Shop, custom fitting, repairs and a full coaching
service.

Visitors are always assured of a warm and friendly welcome at the Club.
Photography by Stewart Grant, Studio in the Square, Grantown-on-Spey
golf@grantownonspeygc.co.uk

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Yelverton Golf Club

Jack Rayner — Thu, 08 Apr 2021 11:59:04 +0000

Yelverton, designed by the renowned golf architect Herbert Fowler, is a delightful moorland course with many interesting features. These include old mine workings and a “Leat” – an artificial watercourse dug into the ground, which was built in the 1790’s to provide water to Plymouth from Dartmoor. Fowler added a number of sizeable banks and mounds with a limited number of fairway bunkers, this was typical of his trademark design. The generous fairways are lined with many natural hazards, including – heather, gorse, bracken and small thorn bushes, that put a premium on accuracy. The geographic location also adds to its natural features and a relatively easy walking landscape. The course shares its fairways with the native Dartmoor Ponies, sheep and cattle, and when combined with typical south west weather creates a unique landscape for golf.

Donald Steel Golf Architect wrote – ‘Yelverton strikes the perfect balance in testing the best players without terrorising the less good. The change to accommodate modern equipment is not necessary, it has stood the test of time because its defences are so natural. Never have I walked such a long-established course without finding so little to comment, this is kin to going to the doctor and being told “you are fully fit”’.

The course has hosted many special events, including the England Golf Men’s Senior Amateur Championship in 2006.

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Harry Vardon

Jack Rayner — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:49:51 +0000

In 1900, Vardon embarked on a year long tour of the US and Canada to promote AG Spalding’s new “Vardon Flyer” golf ball. The Open Champion quickly became golf’s first international celebrity.

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Fred G. Hawtree

Jack Rayner — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:47:35 +0000

Hawtree is the longest continuous practice of golf course architecture on record. started by F.G. Hawtree in 1912, the firm was then operated by his son F.W until his grandson Martin Grant took over.

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Fred W. Hawtree

Jack Rayner — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:45:37 +0000

Fred W. Hawtree was a founder member and late President of the British Association Of Golf Course Architects, which was the first attempt in the UK to form a golf course architecture profession.

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J. H. Taylor

Jack Rayner — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:43:35 +0000

J. H. Taylor is rightly regarded as a golfing pioneer. The five – time Open Champion was one of the best golfers of his era, he then played a significant role in shaping the way the game is now conducted.

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Herbert Fowler

Jack Rayner — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:41:33 +0000

Herbert Fowler was introduced to golf at Royal North Devon when visiting nearby Bideford on banking business in 1979 and he became a club member, winning the Prince Of Wales medal two years later.

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Willie Park Jr.

Jack Rayner — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:39:08 +0000

Willie Park Jr. was born in Musselburgh, the second of four sons of (old) Willie Park, four – time Open Champion. Young Willie won the Champion twice himself, becoming one of five Musselburgh men to do so.

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Alexander MacKenzie

Jack Rayner — Wed, 03 Mar 2021 13:36:36 +0000

Alexander MacKenzie ( 1870 to 1934) Was born in England, but his parents were Scottish and the family holidayed every year close to where his father was raised the traditional Clan MacKenzie lands of Sutherland.

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Hickory Dickory Dock As First Event Played ‘In Memory Of’ The Great James Braid

Jack Rayner — Mon, 27 Jan 2020 11:00:16 +0000

Hickory Dickory Dock As First Event Played ‘In Memory Of’ The Great James Braid

World’s best hickory players come together to compete in the first Scottish Hickory Tour since 1930

First event played ‘in memory of’ the great James Braid

The world’s best hickory players are coming together next month to compete in the first Scottish Hickory Tour since 1930. In a series of ten tournaments, starting with the James Braid’s 150^th Anniversary Hickory Open, the world’s top 20 professionals and top 40 amateurs will qualify to participate in the Final over Leven’s Links in October.

To celebrate the launch of the tour, the World’s Top Hickory Golfers will congregate on a special day in golfing history, the 6^th February 2020, at Braid Hills Golf Course for the ‘IceBreaker’ James Braid’s 150^th Anniversary Hickory Open event. It is being played on this day in celebration of the 150^th Anniversary of the birth of the famous golfer James Braid, five time Open Champion and Designer of over 400 Golf Courses in Scotland including: Brora, Bruntsfield, Dalmahoy, Gleneagles, Goodwood Downs, Lundin Links, Boat of Garten, Grantown on Spey, The Glen, Royal Musselburgh, Monktonhall, Walton Heath and many others.

The first match is being played over 9 holes at Braid Hills in memory of James Braid yet despite its name, this course was not designed by James Braid, rather, it is laid out over Braid Hill. The players then move on to the Merchants of Edinburgh Golf Club in the afternoon for another 9 holes. The course was originally designed by Ben Sayers in 1907 and altered by James Braid in 1936. The course is challenging and fun, and will be a good test for players, including past World Hickory Open Winners Fraser Mann (Scotland) and Andrew Marshall (England).

To celebrate the commencement of the Tour, a first edition whisky, limited to 150 numbered bottles are being bottled by Hickory Forever and will be available to buy on February the 6th, 2020. To reserve one of the first 150 bottles, please get in touch via the Hickory Forever website.

Following on from the James Braid 150th Anniversary Hickory Open, next on the Tour calendar will be the Jack’s Open Pro Am played over Musselburgh Golf Club and Royal Musselburgh on the 8^th and 9^th April.

To find out more about where each event will take place click on The Scottish Hickory Tour 2020

6th February 2020 – James Braid 150th Anniversary Hickory Open

8 & 9th April 2020 – Jack’s Open Pro Am

24 & 25 June 2020 – First Icelandic Hickory Open 2020

7 July 2020 – John Still Memorial Trophy

18 & 19 August 2020 – Highland Hickory Open

6 – 8 October 2020 – The Scottish Hickory Final

Instagram: ScottishHickoryTour

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