This section gives a brief insight into our fantastic history and charts the Club's development over the years.  It also details how our popular Men's Open, The Oundle Putter, started. This is one of our many Opens and Competitions which we hope you sign up for. To see details of all our Opens please click here.

 

 

The club was founded in 1893 by members of the local gentry, who laid out a 9-hole course to the West of Oundle, beside the Benefield Road.  The land was known locally as Bailey Hills. Full golfing attire included a scarlet coat and caddies received 6d and a glass of lemonade for 18 holes.  Course maintenance was carried out by one man, one day per week. 

During the First World War the course was closed and reverted back to agricultural use.  Fortunately, after the war, surviving pre-war members returned to revive the club.

Throughout the Second World War, the course remained open being maintained by voluntary labour. In 1945 membership was just 12 members.  Throughout the 1950’s the club grew and golf became popular within the county. As a result more competitions were organised and matches against other clubs.

The 1960’s and 1970’s were years of tremendous growth. 

In 1967, with the aid of grants  and loans, the freehold of the existing land was purchased. Further land was leased which enabled the course to be increased to 13 holes as a first step and then on to 18 holes. In 1971 the full 18-hole course was opened.

The majority of the work was carried out by members and friends who freely gave their time, hard work and use of equipment. Today’s members owe them a deep debt of gratitude.  Mains water was connected to the clubhouse in 1971 and mains electricity in 1974. A bore hole is still in use for supplying water for the course.  Up until this time various wooden buildings (previously in use at Oundle School) had been used for changing rooms and a bar. In those days the key to the bar was to be found under a cushion on one of the chairs, with an honesty box being used for payment. Annual subscriptions, green fees, etc. were posted into a large safe. Catering for matches etc. was largely done by members and members’ wives.  Growth in membership escalated and a new single-storey clubhouse was started in 1972 and opened in 1974.  By 1976 membership was full and a busy programme was in place.

In 1982 a second floor was added to the clubhouse giving panoramic views over the course.  Further land was purchased in 1989 and developed into 4 new holes. This enabled the previous 18 holes to be reduced to 14 holes (with some lengthening) and the provision of 2 practice areas. The new holes and revised course layout was opened in the Club's Centenary Year 1993.

In 2005 a further clubhouse extension (and refurbishment) opened providing a new entrance, stairway and lift, which greatly improved the appearance of the clubhouse. A new pro’s shop with open balcony above was included in the development.

From once being a stone quarry, and a very popular Victorian picnic area, the land has been developed into a golf course with many tests of both skill and character, which is held in high regard by golfers within Northamptonshire and beyond.

 

 

"The Oundle Putter" is a 4-Ball Better Ball competition first played for in 1999 and is open to amateur golfers with a maximum handicap of 28 but with a ¾ handicap allowance of 18 shots.

Previously, Oundle GC had staged an annual Men’s Open. In 1999 Barbara and Gerry Jenkinson, club members for many years, presented the Captain, Dave Foley, with the Putter that is now "The Oundle Putter". They posed him a question “Can you find a use for this?”

Barbara and Gerry were given the putter by Barbara’s brother who worked for the Accles and Pollock, Birmingham, manufactures of Apollo golf shafts. The company produced steel, tubular golf shafts from 1913 until it ceased production in 2001. Around the end of the nineties the company produced a number of putters with these twisted shafts for promotional purposes. The putters are properly aligned and can be used in the conventional way. They are, however, illegal as they do not conform to the rules of golf i.e. the shaft must be straight!

After a number of days trying to answer Barbara’s question It finally dawned on Dave that the shaft mirrored the way Harpers Brook runs through Oundle golf course and that the term “Putter” was quite often used in golf as the title of golf competitions. "The Oundle Putter" was born.

Our aim was to run a competition open to golfers of all abilities providing they held a CONGU handicap and were members of an England Golf affiliated golf club. By calling this competition "The Oundle Putter" we would have a name which was a little different to the normal "Open". In fairness we thought it would be a good bit of marketing that would make our Open stand out a little from the crowd. The competition now attracts golfers from clubs in Northamptonshire and the counties surrounding Oundle.

The first winners were Tony McCathey and Laurence Tait from Oundle GC. In subsequent years the Putter has been won by players from a number of clubs in Northamptonshire and the counties surrounding.