Mid Herts - Hertfordshire - England

Mid Herts golf Club dates back to 1892, with an initial course brought into play the following year thanks to the design efforts of Charles Thom, the West Herts professional.

Authors John F. Moreton and Iain Cumming then take up the story in this edited extract from their book James Braid and his Four Hundred Golf Courses:

“On common land, Mid Herts had a ten hole course up to World War I, but soon after the end of the war agitation for a full course arose. The decision was made to call Braid in 1921 and over the next two years his plan was implemented. It was an interesting assignment as no new land was available.

Mid Herts has two maps, one of pre-1914, one of 1925, so it is possible to see Braid’s brain at work. He kept the original 2nd as his 5th, the 3rd as his 9th the 4th as his 10th, the 5th green for his 11th, the 6th as his 12th, the 7th as his 13th, the 8th green for his 16th, the 18th as his 17th, from which it can be seen he fitted in holes around the original course.

Obviously, more of the common land had to be cleared for his new holes, but even a quarter of the way into his design career, it is easy to read his thought processes: keep as much as you can, and weave the other nine, or rather eight, into the web.”

In the late 1960s, the club acquired another 21 acres which enabled three new holes and a practice area to be laid out to the south of the course. Fifteen tees, greens and fairways on the common were redesigned to eliminate problem areas to the north and east boundaries, with the new layout coming into play in August 1968.