Expansion of Golf

The second half of the nineteenth century saw the expansion of golf throughout the British Isles and from there to the further flung outposts of the British Empire and, finally, rather later in the day, to the USA. The expansion of golf was fuelled by a number of things: the advent of the guttie ball, which was not only cheaper but available in thousands rather than hundreds; the availability of mass-produced clubs; and the advent of the railways, which enabled people to travel easily. As travel became easier, the idea of holidays away from home took hold. Many of the seaside resorts built golf courses to attract the summer visitors, imitating the older courses of the resorts of North Berwick and Dunbar on the Firth of Forth.

The explosion of golf's popularity when it came was dramatic. In 1850 there were 24 clubs in Great Britain, by 1900 there were over 1,200. The first English seaside links course was West Ward Ho! in north Devon, which was designed by "Old" Tom Morris in 1864. This was the home course of J. H. Taylor, one of the three greatest English golfers of all time. Other courses soon followed, particularly around the south-east coast of England. Royal St George's in the county of Kent was founded in 1887, its sister course Prince's in 1904. Aldeburgh and Southwold in Suffolk were both founded in 1884, two years after Great Yarmouth, just up the coast. In Lancashire, the Royal Liverpool, one of the oldest clubs in the country, was founded in 1869 and Haydock Park in 1877, while the championship links of Royal Birkdale and Royal Lytham and St Annes were founded in 1889 and 1886 respectively.

As holiday-makers, the British also started me game in Europe. The first club on the continent was founded at Pau in France, in me shadow of the Pyrenees, in 1856 and the Royal Antwerp Club in Belgium dates from 1888. When it moved in 1910 to Kepellenbos me club employed Willie Park Jnr as architect to layout their new course.