Beginnings

Adapted with kind permission from 'Matlock Golf Club 1906-2006, a 100 years of golf in Cuckoostone Dale', by Barry Kay, published 2006.

At the start of the last century the town of Matlock saw itself as leader in the field of hydropathic treatments.  Visitors came from all over the world to 'take the waters' in its range of hydro hotels.  Wanting additional diversions for their guests, it was the hydro managers who were the driving force behind the idea of a golf course. 

First references to the project appear in 1902, but it was 1906 before the club was constituted.  The Right Hon. Victor Cavendish MP, later the ninth Duke of Devonshire, accepted an invitation to become President of the club.  In March of that year a lease was secured on land adjoining Chesterfield Road on Matlock Moor.  Professional advice was that the site was ideal and that the estimated total cost of preparing the course was £1,000.  Three months later local press revealed that work was proceeding under the guidance of Tom Williamson, the well-known Nottingham professional.

On Saturday 17 May 1907 the Derbyshire Advertiser and Journal reported beautiful weather favouring the official opening of the new links at Matlock.  Col. H Brooke-Taylor – Victor Cavendish's agent – struck the inaugural drive and in true R&A tradition rewarded the boy who retrieved it with a gold sovereign.  Apparently the lad did not have to run too far as the Colonel was "…by no means an expert golfer." The photograph top right illustrates the event.

Later that day, a telegram was received from Victor Cavendish stating his intention to donate a Presidential Challenge Cup.  It is still played for today and sits proudly in the clubhouse trophy cabinet.

Four famous players had been engaged to play exhibition matches in both forenoon and afternoon: Harry Vardon, renowned for his six Open Championship titles; Sandy Herd, winner in 1902; George Duncan, destined to be the first post-World War 1 Open Champion; and the course designer, Tom Williamson.

In the morning singles, Vardon and Herd triumphed.  Herd's winning 71 was remarkable considering the course's immaturity, his unfamiliarity with it and the equipment of the time.  The course then was only 400 yards shorter than its current length.  The afternoon match took the form of an international Four-ball.  Vardon and Williamson representing England won a rather easy 5 & 3 victory over the Scottish pair of Herd and Duncan.

The clubhouse – erected for a cost of £750 – was the familiar wooden sports pavilion.  Its basic structure remained largely unaltered for the next 80 years, beyond extensions and periodic upgrades.

Ladies were involved in Matlock Golf Club from its inception.  Less than a year after the opening the club hosted its first tournament for the Derbyshire Ladies Golf Union.  The Ladies Section formally established itself in 1912 with the encouragement and unanimous support of the General Committee.

As for many other rural clubs, the 1930s and 40s were difficult times.  Membership declined and the club only survived to the end of the Second World War on the strength of personal guarantees pledged by its Directors.  However in 1946 members were advised that a newly formed Matlock Golf Club Co. Ltd. had raised sufficient capital to take over the assets and liabilities of the old.  Subscriptions were set at six guineas with an entrance fee of two.