Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club honoured

Shanklin and Sandown Golf Club hosted a Royal Clubs Day in August to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the closure of The Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club

Royal's Golf Day

A special event commemorating the 50th anniversary of The Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club's closure took place last month at the Shanklin and Sandown Golf Club.

Dave Woodhouse, Shanklin's current captain, organised the Royal Clubs Day event, which took place on Friday August 10.

Mr Woodhouse invited a captain or representative from the other 'Royal' titled clubs around Britain to play for the Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club Trophy.

John Uzielli - a past captain of the R&A - and two other Royal and Ancient members were present, alongside representatives from Royal Aberdeen, Royal Country Down, Royal Ascot, Royal Guernsey, Royal Eastbourne, Royal St David's, Royal Jersey, Royal Winchester, Royal Blackheath, Royal North Devon, Royal Eastbourne, Royal Worlington and Newmarket, Stoneham and Wentworth.

In addition to the Royal representatives, past captains and past club champions turned up for the golf and subsequent festivities - including a lone piper performance and gala dinner - along with Martin White, Lord Lieutenant of the Isle of Wight.

The Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club, founded in 1882, was one of Britain's first golf courses, and at one point challenged the pre-eminence of St Andrews as the source of the authoritative rules of the game.

In the club's heyday, its members included Edward VII, several European princes and monarchs and celebrities such as David Niven. Princess Beatrice, Queen Victoria's youngest daughter, was also club president until her death in 1940.

At its height, The Royal Isle of Wight Golf Club possessed 11 internationals, with Horace Rawlins, one of the club's members, winning the first U.S. Open in 1895.

The club - now managed by the National Trust as open space - closed in 1962, and it's captain's board, trophies and memorabilia are now housed at Shanklin and Sandown.

Nick Bonfield
Features Editor

Nick Bonfield joined Golf Monthly in 2012 after graduating from Exeter University and earning an NCTJ-accredited journalism diploma from News Associates in Wimbledon. He is responsible for managing production of the magazine, sub-editing, writing, commissioning and coordinating all features across print and online. Most of his online work is opinion-based and typically centres around the Majors and significant events in the global golfing calendar. Nick has been an avid golf fan since the age of ten and became obsessed with the professional game after watching Mike Weir and Shaun Micheel win The Masters and PGA Championship respectively in 2003. In his time with Golf Monthly, he's interviewed the likes of Rory McIlroy, Justin Rose, Jose Maria Olazabal, Henrik Stenson, Padraig Harrington, Lee Westwood and Billy Horschel and has ghost-written columns for Westwood, Wayne Riley, Matthew Southgate, Chris Wood and Eddie Pepperell. Nick is a 12-handicap golfer and his favourite courses include Old Head, Sunningdale New, Penha Longha, Valderrama and Bearwood Lakes. If you have a feature pitch for Nick, please email nick.bonfield@futurenet.com with 'Pitch' in the subject line. Nick is currently playing: Driver: TaylorMade M1 Fairway wood: TaylorMade RBZ Stage 2 Hybrid: Ping Crossover Irons (4-9): Nike Vapor Speed Wedges: Cleveland CBX Full Face, 56˚, Titleist Vokey SM4, 60˚ Putter: testing in progress! Ball: TaylorMade TP5x