Corhampton

It’s known that golf was played on Corhampton Down before 1891 but that’s the year which is now recognised as when Corhampton Golf Club was instituted. The 1906-7 edition of the Golfing Annual directory lists the club as having a membership of 32, with an annual subscription fee of ten shillings.

Interestingly, the publication also mentions the club had a 9-hole course but “only seven holes are played on Saturdays”. That’s because the local cricket pitch was laid out on part of the course so golfers were forced to give way to the cricketers when they had a home fixture at the weekend.

In 1932, greenkeeper Bert Dedman was appointed and the course was re-arranged into a 9-hole layout that remained in play until 1973, when a decision was made to expand the layout to eighteen holes within the confines of an 88-acre property and build a new clubhouse.

Transforming the course into eighteen holes cost the club £25,000, while work on the clubhouse ran up a bill of £55,000. All of this was financed by the members who were asked to pay a refundable £50 levy, with forty members also paying £500 each for a 20-year membership.

In 1988, additional land was acquired, which allowed the course to be extended once again and reconfigured as two loops of nine holes, along with a large practice area. Martin Hawtree carried out the work, adding four new holes from the 12th to 15th, but leaving the celebrated 16th intact.

Today, the course measures 6,398 yards from the rear markers, playing to a par of 71, 35 out and 36 in. Notable holes include the shortest of the four par threes at the 163-yard 6th, and the last of the three par fives at the 510-yard 18th, which offers a reasonable chance of finishing with a birdie on the home green.