#Eastward ho golf club professional#

His re-design of Westward Ho! had critics proclaiming it the equal of any links. While Walton Heath is recognized as his masterpiece, Herbert Fowler produced other exceptional courses. To this day, the exposed Old Course at Walton Heath is the benchmark upon which all heath courses are judged. And Braid remained there until his death 46 years later.

#Eastward ho golf club professional#

In fact, the course was so good that James Braid signed on to be Walton Heath’s first professional four months before the course opened. Whereas the construction of Woking and Sunningdale predated the acceptance of the Haskell ball, Walton Heath was specifically built with it in mind. Finally, the first course at Walton Heath Golf Club opened in May, 1904, and was immediately recognized as a great design. Herbert Fowler, a forceful figure with strong ideas on many subjects, wanted to try his hand at course design and was given this opportunity.įor almost two years, he stalked on horseback the vast property some 700 feet above sea level on the North Downs. Woking and Sunningdale Old started to change that and by 1902, a group that included a relative of Herbert Fowler‘s was ready to pursue a course some 30 miles southeast of London. This was pre-1900 and until that point, the finest courses in the British Isles were confined to the links land around its coastline. He quickly excelled and became enthralled with the sport, joining both the R&A and the Honorable Club of Edinburgh Golfers. Leeds – Herbert Fowler wasn’t drawn to golf until mid-life. Although an excellent athlete – similar to H.C. Such is not the case when a similar discussion is held in the United Kingdom.

In the United States, Herbert Fowler‘s name is often absent in the discussion of the all-time great architects. Located in the middle of a glacial moraine, the heaving property at Eastward Ho! is unlike any other in world golf and Herbert Fowler made the most of it with a brilliant figure ‘8’ routing.