09/06/2026
A little bit of history. Pictured is Harry Vardon, 6 times Open Golf Champion. Golf was being played here at St Augustine’s in 1907 but Harry Vardon was invited to play the first "official" round of golf by a professional of high status in 1908 on the course that his brother Tom Vardon, a golf professional and architect designed and completed in 1907. The course was originally much longer but land that is now the nature reserve was requisitioned by the War Office for logistical purposes during World War 1 but never returned to the golf club.
Harry Vardon is famous for introducing the "Vardon Grip" into the game, an overlapping grip that allowed the 2 hands to work in unison.
Tom Vardon completed the golf course in 1907, 1,310 years after Augustine who went on to become the 1st Archbishop of Canterbury, landed here to promote Christianity in Britain in 597AD. His landing is officially recognised by the Runic Cross, just a couple of hundred yards east of the entrance to the golf club, a popular site today for many pilgrims.
Between the 9th and 17th fairways is "St Augustine's Well", known as the "Holy Well" where Augustine baptised many early Christians. The Golf Club is aptly named St Augustine's Golf Club.
Graphics and historical information courtesy of James McGarry.
