Liphook-as it once was

[Paul_Turner]

Liphook still has the coolest name of any golf course.

Arthur Croome is the designer and Tom Simpson thought it was the best inland course in the country. 

It doesn't look much like this now, it's completely tree lines... but anyway some great old pics of what once was a true heath course:

PS i wish this new board would allow larger dimension pics, without having to scroll!  1000 pixels is ok for nearly all monitors.  800 seems too narrow and puny to me.

[Mark_Rowlinson]

Marvellous pictures, Paul. The hole order was different back then, the clubhouse being behind what is now the 9th green (your photo of the 18th is now the 9th). The trees do come into play on some holes, and especially towards the end, over the road near the new clubhouse. It's still a lovely course, trees or no trees. If anyone is in the vicinity it might be worth popping into the pub that is behind today's 9th green. It used to have some excellent photos (maybe the same as these) of the course in the old days. But as the town has been bypassed and the busy A3 no longer runs through the course the pub may have closed through lack of trade.

[Tom MacWood]

Paul
Those are fabulous pictures. Thanks for sharing them.

I wonder if the Inn in the background of the 18th green is The Wheatsheaf, described in an article by Darwin. Here is a link to that article (Liphook is about half way down the page):

http://golfclubatlas.com/in-my-opinion/tom-macwood-a-round-of-golf-courses-bernard-darwin-outward-nine/tom-macwood-a-round-of-golf-courses-bernard-darwin-inward-nine

[Mike_Cirba]

Paul,

I agree with every single word posted by Tom MacWood.


Shocking, I know. 

Thanks for sharing...

[Neil_Crafter]

Paul
You are the king of the old postcards!
These are very nice and thanks for sharing them with us.
Neil

[Emil Weber]

That looks truly magnificent, Paul.

To get back to the bunker-subject, I really love the rugged look of the bunker in the first picture, it could easily be a C&C bunker.

[Neil_Crafter]

Emil
Surely you mean that a C&C bunker could easily be a Croome bunker!

[Emil Weber]

Yes, you are 100% right, Niall, I didn't think about it enough.

[Scott Warren]

Looks like work is being done to remove trees!

http://www.liphookgolfclub.com/course_forest_clearance.htm

Any of the south England contingent fancy checking it out one day in the near future?

[Scott Warren]

And some modern day pics: http://www.liphookgolfclub.com/signature.html

[Paul_Turner]

Thanks for the comments.

Mike and Tom...glad to provide some light relief.  And yes the Darwin description fits the postcards quite well, Mark is right the nines has been switched but there have been a couple of hole changes too, which I haven't worked out.  John Morrison did the current 1st I think (par 3).

The old 2nd now the 11th is the once famous "Clump" hole par 3.  You can just make it out in the background of the postcard showing the 1st.  Referring to the clump of trees I presume.

The drawings in Simpson's book: The Architectural Side of Golf fit the postcards well...particularly the 5th.

[Tom MacWood]

Paul
Any idea when those pictures were taken?

[RJ_Daley]

Thanks for the 'then and now' look.  The old photos really capture a bygone era milieu.  I have got to learn to hit some shots wearing a heavy woolen knee length overcoat... 

[Paul_Turner]

Tom

The postcards are unused and not dated,  I'd guess the 1930s.

[Mark Pearce]

Paul,

I'm no expert but I thought the clothes in those pictures looked older than the '30s.