With early records of the Club irretrievably lost, snippets from the local and national press are the only real means of establishing the events which led to the founding of Littlehampton Golf Club. At a meeting held at the Terminus Hotel on 16th February 1889, around 25 members enrolled themselves and the Club was formed.
The 7th March 1889 edition of the West Sussex Gazette announced the fact, and one reason for the speed with which this occurred could be attributed to the fact that the popularity of golf was partly due to satisfying the Late Victorian passion for open-air exercise, which unlike the enthusiasm for cycling, combined skill and competition too.
New golf courses were being laid out all over the country, a major reason being the ease and frequency of rail travel. At this time Littlehampton`s railway station was at Lyminster and, as yet, there were no bridges across the river to the town. When the early Clubs in England were formed, many landowners were impressive in their generosity as they appeared to either hand over their land free, or to charge only a peppercorn rent. The reason must be that land was cheap, many owned thousands of unused acres and the benevolence of some landlords to the gentry did the rest.
The first three courses in Sussex were Royal Eastbourne, Brighton & Hove and Seaford (East Blatchington) in 1887; followed by Royal Ashdown Forest a year later. Littlehampton can claim to be the fifth in 1889 and it also had an unusual, if not unique feature. The only direct route from Littlehampton Town to the Club Room and first tee was by ferry across the River Arun. This remained the sole access route until Henry, 15th Duke of Norfolk, opened the Swing Bridge on 7th August 1908.
Two local boatmen, Jimmy and Peachey had their very own rowing boat ferry that operated from Pier Road to the Golf Club, charging one penny single and tuppence return- somewhat cheaper than the toll over the Swing Bridge. Fortunately, with the drainpipe golf bags which normally carried no more than four or five clubs, and unencumbered by any bad-weather extra clothing as all played in normal attire, more golfers could cross at one time. It must have been arduous rowing the clinker-built boat across England`s second fastest flowing river with fourteen passengers, six aside and two in the bows.
During 1893 it was decided to turn the 9 hole course into 18 holes. The original 18 hole course consisted of an enjoyable, but tricky outward half played amongst the sandhills . The inward half was considerably improved by taking on fresh ground and the existing holes were lengthened and the bunkering tightened up by Messrs Hawtree and JH Taylor Ltd. It was quoted that even though two or three holes near the finish that lie in marshland, there is not a weak or commonplace hole in the round.
The majority of courses laid out in sandhill country around this time have an air of remoteness about them and even of desolation, but Littlehampton has a pleasant nautical aspect that serves to remind us that the town is still a minor seaport, though it has lost something of the glory that it possessed in the days when the Earl of Arundel landed his prisoners here after the Battle of Crecy, and when eighty French vessels lay in the harbour at one time.
Writing in the Club`s official handbook in 1932, Robert H.K. Browning described Littlehampton as being a links of true seaside type, as long ago as the beginning of 1889, it was by no means entirely so. The original course consisted of nine holes, with the Club Room, a large hut positioned near the north-eastern part of the Fort. The Rifle Butt, which was on the sea-side of the original 2nd hole, now has to be encountered when driving off at our present 9th hole.
On the Sussex coast we find many seaside resorts, some large and well known, and some smaller ones like Littlehampton which remain more delightful in their naturalness. Here we find a place of wide-open spaces, woods, river and harbour, and a vast expanse of golden sands. It was from the top of the steps to the previous Clubhouse that an entrancing panorama of shingle, sand and sea could be viewed. Nowadays, the old Clubhouse is no more, but views of such can still be seen from many of the tees along the holes which border the sand dunes.
With the outbreak of the Second World War , we became very much an invasion coast and, along with many other courses, Littlehampton bore the scars of war. To get the links back into playing order, over 400 concrete blocks had to be removed, tank and lorry ruts filled and made smooth, greens re-laid and a military road made into the fairway, with the result that £10,000 had to be spent putting the links in order.
The Course is now playing well, providing a first class test of golf without being too severe on the average player. In his book , Play the best great courses in the British Isles, published in 1973, Sir Peter Allen pitches the entry for Littlehampton between that of Royal Eastbourne and Hayling.
He went on to describe the first view of the links as being like that of Hoylake, venue for this years British Open, and quotes a flat piece of grassland with its parallel mown fairways, grassy rough and a few undulating greens, and away in the distance a line of sandhills which hold out much promise. And, as at Hoylake, the holes in or near the sandhills are certainly more attractive while the holes in the meadows are long and tough but not easy to distinguish.
The par remains at 70, but if anyone thinks that this course will give you a flattering score, he should consult the honours boards in the Clubhouse. Incidentally, these honours boards are often interesting and useful sources of facts about a course and a club. Tragically, these and so much archive material was lost when the previous Clubhouse was destroyed by fire on the fateful day of 18th June 1985.
