Walmer & Kingsdown Golf Club

The following edited extract is from John F. Moreton & Iain Cumming’s book James Braid and his Four Hundred Golf Courses:

“Walmer and Kingsdown, a cliff-top course on the Kent coast, has an unusual history. Firstly, it seems to have been constructed quickly, Braid and Vardon opening it on 10th April 1909, Braid having only laid it out a few months earlier. It was somewhat rough at the opening, only partly due to the lack of rain. Braid was the victor 3&2 in the morning, and again in the afternoon with a 78, Nicholls the professional scoring 81 and Vardon an 84.

During World War I it reverted to nine holes but was officially re-opened in 1919. However, the War Office requisitioned the land in World War II and the course ceased to exist as such. But the 2000 booklet reveals that during 1944 and 1945 the greens were ‘preserved’ by the professional-to-be and his father, which tends to suggest the course was largely reinstated. In 1974 there were changes to holes 7 to 9 and 14 to 15, mainly lengthening.

If the 1948 activities were essentially a reinstatement, Braid’s course is mainly as he designed it, the first nine having magnificent views of the Channel, and the second nine looking inland to Kent countryside.”