The New Forest Golf Club began its history in the latter part of 1888, when a meeting of residents in and around Lyndhurst was called to try to obtain the permission of the ‘Commissioners of Woods and Forests’ for the right to play golf on the open heath.
The annual subscription was half a guinea and the headquarters was Classhayes, which is now the Lyndhurst Park Hotel. Eight holes were built on the ‘Bench’ and ten holes within the Old Lyndhurst racecourse.
Permission was granted for this and also to cut holes three inches deep and to roll the ground for a distance of five yards around each hole. Following this, another meeting was called on February 6th 1889 and it was unanimously decided to form a club, to be called the New Forest Golf Club.
The long climb back to recovery started again for the Club after the war. Compensation for damage was claimed, but by the time it was paid, it proved just enough to build one green – the present 5th – and apart from one short spell when the Club broke even the going was tough, until in 1959, heavily in debt, the Club was about to close when Peter Swann a professional golfer, fell in love with the Forest and decided to purchase the club.
The Club grew with the years until the First World War, when a bombing school was situated on the links and considerable damage was done to the course. After the war, permission was withdrawn to use the ‘Bench’ side and so the course was concentrated within the racecourse. The damage was repaired and the nine hole course continued to prosper until the Second World War, when, in 1939, the army pitched the largest camp ever sited in the forest and the course became a training ground for tanks.
9th Green and Clubhouse “The Shed”
Today, there is a fine testing 18-hole golf course, a more recent Clubhouse with all amenities, a healthy membership and a most popular venue for visitors.
As Peter Alliss wrote, “If you want to become involved in one of the really nice things in golf, go along to the New Forest Golf club and have a game; in these days of high powered chrome fronted clubhouses, it is nice to get among the real people in golf”.
The Course is laid out in a typical stretch of the New Forest, on high but flat ground near the village of Lyndhurst and is enclosed on three sides by forest. The clubhouse is situated at the end of a drive leading off the A35 road, which runs between Southampton and Bournemouth, on the way between Ashurst and Lyndhurst. Lyndhurst is the capital of the New Forest and is an excellent centre for exploring this part of Hampshire.
The Club has an unrivalled reputation for friendship, social activities and golf competitions and is unique in its Sunday morning competition. Every Sunday morning at half past eight, 120 members report to the Club and using 11 starting tees, play a competition. At 1.15pm they are in the Clubhouse, winners being presented with their trophies by the Club Captain. What an atmosphere is created – no wonder the place is so popular and the 120 members lucky enough to get their names on the starting sheet, the envy of all other golfers.
Then in 1996 Ross Macdonald purchased the Club. Ross, a keen golfer himself and with a sincere passion for the New Forest environment achieved his aim to provide enjoyable and affordable golf for all.
In May 2004 the Club was then purchased by the members and, with their backing and energy and enthusiasm, they are looking to take the club forward, whilst still keeping up the traditions of this great old club. Since acquiring the club the members have invested significantly in the course and clubhouse and planning approval has been obtained for additional improvements to the clubhouse and catering facilities. Membership continues to grow and the future looks bright.
He eventually paid off the Clubs debts and, armed with just a spade, set about re-building the course, while his wife, Gladys looked after the ‘shed’ that was the Clubhouse, where the 11th green now stands. As Brian Huggett MBE wrote: ‘it is always nice to relate success stories and when they are about a fellow professional, then it is even more of a pleasure.
