History of Coombe Wood Golf Club
The course was created on land of the 1300 acre Coombe Estate, which the 1st. Duke of Cambridge, 7th. Son of George III bought in 1837. The 2nd. Duke was Commander in Chief of the British Army from 1856 – 1895. He and his sons decided to convert the unsightly gravel pit into a golf course, 7 holes above George Road and 2 below.
The 2nd. Duke died in 1904 and his two younger sons Colonel Sir Augustus and Admiral Sir Aldolphus Fitzgeorge became the owners of the Estate. The 9 hole course opened in 1904 with the Hon Arthur Balfour, the Prime Minister, as Captain.
Our oldest trophy is the Cambridge Cup, named after the Duke of Cambridge and was first played for in 1911, and in 1913 there were 46 entrants.
After the 1st. World war, the local hockey and cricket clubs disappeared releasing the land they had occupied, this allowed the development of an 18 hole golf course – 10 holes above George Road and 8 below. This was opened in 1922 by Field Marshall Earl Haig, the then Captain. The Ladies section was increasing in numbers and in 1925 became autonomous and had their own Captain.
After the Colonel died in 1933 the remaining 700 acres of the Estate were sold and Malden and Coombe Council saved the Club from extinction by purchasing the land from Higgs and Hill and leasing it to the Club. A series of short term leases were negotiated over the ensuing years, but with no long term security investment into the Club was sparse and after the 2nd. World War the clubhouse and course were badly run down. The Club survived because of the effort the then members put in, both financially and by working on the course. In 1994 the Club purchased a new 125 year lease securing our tenure until 2119. This security has enabled the Clubhouse to be redeveloped in 2002-3, just in time for our Centenary.
We have had some outstanding golfers at Coombe Wood over the years. John de Forest was English Amateur Champion in 1932, P W L Risdon was an English international during the 30’s. Pam Barton was British Ladies Champion in 1936 and more recently James Heath won the Lytham trophy by a record 10 shots and also the English Amateur Championship, both in 2004. Lisa McGowan has represented and Captained Surrey Ladies for a number of years, current members Joe Blake and Sam Moloney have represented Surrey and Alex Williams has started the journey of PGA Professional.