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HISTORY
Down in the heights
The History of Royal County Down
Almost 70 years ago, Bernard Darwin, that doyen of them all, drew aside the bedroom curtains of his hotel to catch his first glimpse of the Mourne Mountains and wrote that,
‘to see Slieve Donard’s crest just emerging from a sea of early mist is to taste one of the intenser joys of shaving on the morning of a workless day.’
After golf he reflected that the course which lay below it was one of ‘big and glorious carries, nestling greens, entertainingly blind shots, local knowledge and beautiful turf – the kind of golf that people play in their ecstatic dreams.’ Bill Campbell, who knew the great man, said that he always looked for the best in people and places and, while his sheer love of the game often led to joyous prose, Mr Darwin’s eye for detail was beyond question, and he was never inaccurate.
Oddly enough, County Down’s very early development is in some ways a little obscure. Although it was officially founded in 1889 by some influential Belfast business and professional men at the time when Newcastle had become a popular Victorian seaside resort, and when formal golf in Ireland was still in its infancy, it seems probable that one or two local residents had already been knocking balls around the rabbit warren and may well have created perhaps as many as nine rudimentary holes. The events of these early days are well documented in Richard Latham’s recent scholarly book on the evolution of the links at Newcastle, but the enormous potential had been realised, and ‘The County Down Golf Club’ was formed in March 1889.
The newly formed council, in a cautious mix of enthusiasm and parsimony, commissioned Old Tom Morris to travel all the way from St Andrews ‘for a sum not to exceed £4’ to inspect what existed and advise on a second nine. The outcome of this munificence resulted in Old Tom spending two days ‘on the ground’ and suggesting 18 holes which were in play some months later, proof indeed that golf course design in those days was a very different kettle of fish, but proof also that so many of the great links courses of today were created on natural dune land that had always been there.
And so it began to evolve, all of the work in the years ahead being carried out by the greens staff, little of it recorded, often instigated and certainly supervised by the chairman of the green, George Combe, always authoritative, more often than not autocratic, but like Capability Brown possessing a gift of vision.As the years progressed, the links changed to meet the demands of the time, so that, with advice from Harry Vardon and Ben Sayers before the First World War, and later some important alterations from H.S. Colt, little was left to be done by the 1930s. One or two minor extensions after the Second World War, important improvements to the closing holes in 1998, and a complete new 16th hole in 2004, completed its evolution.
The course is laid out in two 9-hole loops, each starting and finishing at the Clubhouse, advantages of which were recorded in an early golfing journal ‘as being apparent to golfers without enumeration’.Very few of the holes can really be seen from any other, and each in its own way is supremely testing.The course is scrupulously fair when played thoughtfully, but will tempt the impulsive. Either way it stimulates and challenges.
In its early evolution the links had an unusual number of blind shots, regarded then as sporting challenges.Those that still exist today are sometimes criticised, but it was Tommy Armour who said that,“there is no such thing as a blind shot to a man with a memory,” and on the brow of the hill at the 9th even the most insensitive will pause to cherish one of the most stunning, and most often photographed, views in golf.
Royal County Down has been the scene of many wonderful championships, particularly in the very early days when the greats of the day such as Vardon,Taylor, Ball and Kirkaldy came to play ‘for a purse of sovereigns’.As the years progressed it became less used as a major professional venue but has always remained a supreme challenge for the greatest amateurs of the day, particularly in match play which is, after all, the heart and soul of golf.
The Irish Open Amateur Championship was held at Newcastle 15 times until it was abandoned in 1959, the Irish Close ten times, and the Amateur Championship and Home Internationals five times between them. Not unsurprisingly, it has also been the scene of many great Ladies Championships, the Irish and British Open Amateurs a total of 18 times and the Curtis Cup in 1968. Through the years the game has changed, as have the expectations of the players, and the links itself has adapted to meet climatic changes and the ever increasing demands placed upon it by world-wide recognition. But through it all, County Down has never lost its real character, and the majestic sand hills, whiskered bunkers, and stunning views still entice writers of eminence to effuse. Only a few years ago Donald Steel wrote that it was, ‘golf on a heroic scale,’ and the late Peter Dobereiner that it was, ‘thrilling, even without a club in your hand’.
For those of us who live here and love the place, it is a privilege to host the Walker Cup and to share it once more with some of the world’s greatest amateur golfers.
