The Worst Golf Course Ever: Coldham Common. A history of Cambridge University Golf Club, 1869-1919 - Hardcover

Morrison, Michael

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0995641609 ISBN 13: 9780995641600

Publisher: Michael B Morrison, 2016

Synopsis

Cambridge University Golf Club (CUGC) was first established in 1869, putting it amongst the six oldest clubs in England. Golf got underway at Coldham Common in 1876. Bernard Darwin famously described it as ‘the worst course I have ever seen, and many others would award it a like distinction’. It was featureless and frequently waterlogged; the hazards included an active rifle range; and golf was only permitted there in the harsh winter months. Amazingly Coldham Common not only survived for a quarter of a century, it actually flourished. By the early 1890s, CUGC was one of the largest clubs in the country with around five hundred members. However, this was not to last. At the turn of the century, the club was forced to take some crucial decisions, one of which resulted in a lasting legacy, its relationship with the Royal Worlington and Newmarket Golf Club. The book recounts the first fifty years of CUGC’s history and chronicles the life and times of the undergraduates on the ‘links’ at Coldham Common. There is a biographical portrayal of W T Linskill, the central figure within CUGC for over two decades. He was the initiator of the first Varsity match in 1878 and provided much of the extant material we have about golf at Coldham Common. He was also supremely eccentric - if you had met him, you would not forget him. The book finishes with a contemporary tale about two iconic trophies associated with these earlier times, the Linskill Cup and the Dunedin Cup. It transpired that CUGC no longer retained them and that they had been missing for decades. Drawing on the research undertaken in writing the book, a quest began to discover the whereabouts of the missing silverware.

Edition details

• Publisher: Michael B Morrison
• Publication date: 2016
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0995641609
• ISBN 13: 9780995641600
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 168