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Looe Golf Club, St Martin-by-Looe, Cornwall. (1908 - WW2)

Founded 1908 when the professional to 1911 was Fred Hearn.

Just prior to WW2 it was proposed to build a GWR Hotel and layout a new 18-hole golf course at Millendreath. A report on these proposals can be seen at the bottom of this page.

The exact location of this course is still to be found. Although, the advert below gives a clue to a golf course on the Glebe.

 

Looe Golf Club, St Martin-by-Looe. Advert mentioning the golf course.

London Evening Standard Wednesday 26 May 1909. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

St. Martin's Church and Rectory can be seen on the 1900s Ordnance Survey Map below.

 

Looe Golf Club, St Martin-by-Looe. 1900s O.S. Map showing St. Martin's Church and Rectory.

O.S. Map 1905; © Crown Copyright {year of publication 1907}.

 

Result of the August 1909 monthly medal; R M White, 96-18-78; L D Symington, 107-18-89.

Result of the October 1909 monthly medal; R M Martyn, 104-18-86; Rev. W S Picken, 108-18-99; G F Carter, 118-27-91; L D Symington, 110-18-92.

Below is the result of a match played at Fowey Golf Club (now defunct) in September 1910.

 

Looe Golf Club, St Martin-by-Looe. Result of a match played at Fowey in September 1910.

Cornish Guardian Friday 30 September 1910. Image © THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

 

Report on the annual meeting held in October 1910.

 

Looe Golf Club, St Martins-by-Looe, Cornwall. Report from the Royal Cornwall Gazette October 1910.

 

Looe Golf Club, St Martins-by-Looe, Cornwall. Report from the Royal Cornwall Gazette October 1910.

From the Royal Cornwall Gazette 6 October 1910. Image © Illustrated London News Group. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

 

In 1911 the secretary was W H Merriman, Commonwood, Looe.

In 1914 the secretary was R A Peter, Looe. A 9-hole course on pasture land. Hazards were hedges and artificial bunkers. There was a membership of 55. The entry fee for gents was £1/1/0 and ladies 10/6. Subs for gents were £2/2/0 and ladies £1/11/6. Visitors’ fees were 2/- a day and 7/6 a week. Sunday play was allowed without caddies. The station at Looe was ¼ mile away.

It’s likely that the club went into abeyance at the time of WW1. The next mention found is below.

It was reported in July 1923 that further subscriptions were needed before the committee could commence work on the proposed golf course for Looe. Up to this time the amount promised was about £250 and it was hoped that a further £150 could be raised otherwise it was feared the scheme would fail. Subscribers were asked to contact Colonel Bidwell, The Woodlands, East Looe, who would provide the necessary information.

Reports on the club are infrequent but as can be seen below the course was still around at the time of WW2.

 

Looe Golf Club, St Martins-by-Looe, Cornwall. Report from the Western Morning News March 1943.

From the Western Morning News 5 March 1943. Image © Illustrated London News Group. Image created courtesy of THE BRITISH LIBRARY BOARD.

 

The club does not appear following the war.

The current Looe Golf Club at Bindown came into being in 1935.

The Maps below show the location of the former Looe golf course.

 

 

Looe Golf Club, St Martins-by-Looe, Cornwall. Location of the former golf course.

Location of the Looe Golf Club, St Martins-by-Looe, Cornwall.

 

Thanks to Ms V J Young for the following -

“I recall that as a schoolgirl I stayed on a farm called Penvith Farm, St Martins-by-Looe, and the land adjacent had previously been a golf course, but turned over to agriculture due to the war. The golf professional was then farming it. He lived in a small bungalow up a path close to where we were staying”

The above refers to the proposed GWR Hotel and Golf Course at Millendreath in the late 1930s. 

The following is an extract from a report from the Western Morning News Thursday 12 August 1937 about the proposed golf course and hotel at Millendreath; “RAILWAY HOTEL AND GOLF COURSE – Will They Be Ready In Three Years – High on the Cornish cliffs between Looe and Seaton is a golf course on which no one has played. White flags wave upon the greens, some of which are surrounded by wire netting, and workmen are busy keeping the turf on the fairways short and smooth. No one has played golf there yet, partly because the course is not quite complete, also because it is only part of the extensive scheme of the Great Western Railway to develop South-East Cornwall.

Except for the workmen busy on the fairways, writes a “Western Morning News” reporter, this stretch of cliffland, which I was told was known locally as Windsworth, appeared deserted when I visited it. When I chatted to one of the employees of the Guildford firm, which is constructing the golf course, he spoke of tunnels to be bored, viaducts to be built and railway lines to be laid. Stepping out of the hut in which hung plans of the golf course that was being perfected before my eyes, he pointed to a green field on one side. That is the site of the big hotel, he said, conjuring up a vision of the building with 120 bedrooms and a facade designed by Sir Edward Lutyens. He indicates some posts across a field and explained how they marked the new road which it is proposed to cut from Murraytown Lodge to Bodigga Farm. The golf course stretches as far as Bucklawren Farm in one direction and across the cliffs towards Seaton in the other. It will not be ready for play for at least a year I gathered, as some of the greens have no grass yet, and those that are finished need to settle.

The flag marking the eighteenth hole waved in the breeze as I glazed at a plan of the course and thought of the thousands who it is anticipated will try their skill over it in days to come. There are eight long holes of 400 yards or more, including one of almost 500 yards, according to the plan the majority of the others are between 200 and 300 yards. The second is among the few short holes. Bunkers have already been laid out, and I noticed young pines planted nearby one, so the course will not be bare of trees, despite its high position.”

In another report it stated that "The GWR is contemplating a "Gleneagles" of the south-west."

The Google Map Below shows the location of the proposed golf course.