History
Golf started around the town of Horsham in
1905 when a 9-hole golf course was built at Broadbridge Heath to
the west of the town and the Horsham Golf Club formed.
The original course at Mannings Heath consisted of 18 holes and
was laid out in 1914 on the initiative of some members of the
Horsham Club including Mr J.T. McGaw who owned the land. Almost
immediately after the course had been laid it was ploughed up for
agricultural purposes owing to the demands of the war.
A new club emerges...
After the war, the course was re-established
and a nucleus of members of the former Horsham Golf Club formed the
new Mannings Heath Golf Club in 1919.
In the early days, the course was poor but the
Club made substantial efforts to improve the playing conditions.
Indeed, records show that the Club bought a horse for £16 in April
1924 and a tractor for £125 in April 1926 and that by 1928 it was
employing six full-time grounds-men plus part-time help.
In 1929 a ‘Town’s Section’ was formed of
approximately 50 artisans who undertook work on the course instead
of paying subscriptions. On the 15th and 16th June 1930 the
artisans had improved the course construction and development to
such a degree that the Sussex Professional Championship was held
here and the course has been used for prestigious events ever
since.
New owners put their name to the club forever...
In 1953 the land owner, Mr J.T. McGaw passed
away and the freehold of the course was bought by the daughter of
Mr H.G. Latilla (a former Club President in 1933 and a strong
supporter of the club), a Mrs Gwen Latilla-Campbell. Several of the
private dining and meeting rooms in the clubhouse bear the names of
the family today. Gwen subsequently sold the freehold to her own
company in 1985, probably for tax reasons.
The course has been consistently improved with
major extensions of the 4th, 5th, 7th, 17th and 18th holes in the
early 1920’s, of the 9th and 10th holes in 1974, and of the 8th
hole in 1978. The tees and greens have been substantially improved
with automatic watering installed in 1979.
In 1988 the Fullers Estate
consisting of two farms, Hawkings Pond, Fullers House (now the
Clubhouse) and the Course was sold and now sits proudly within the
Exclusive Hotels portfolio. A second course, the
Kingfisher, was added in 1996 - a beautiful par 70 green
fee course set in an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’.
Moments in time
Extracts from early Committee Minutes…
June 1924
“It was resolved to purchase a hole-cutting machine and a pair of
scissors for the use of the greenkeeper.”
August 1929
“It was decided to reply to Golf Illustrated that this Committee
were against the legislation of steel shafted clubs in this
country.”
December 1929
“It was decided that a bath should not be purchased for the
Steward.”
April 1933
“The Committee thanked the President for arranging for the Club to
have electricity installed at a total cost of £82.”
We’re sure you’ll agree that we’ve come a long
way since these minutes were taken but they are marker in time!