On 4 October 1624 the Duke of Buckingham, George Villiers, purchased clubs and balls for £1 11s from the Golfkeeper at Royston. The same day, he lost a £2 bet to Sir Robert Deale on a game of golf. This purchase, recorded by Sir Sackville Crowe in Villiers’ accounts, is the first recorded game played by an Englishman outside of Scotland.
Villiers purchased further bats and balls in December 1624 and January 1625. The presence of a Golfkeeper in Royston implies that the game had been played here previously, probably by Scottish courtiers in King James’ court.
Although it is unknown where Villiers played his game of golf, the chalky grassland of Therfield Heath offered a similar landscape to the Scottish coastal links where golf had originated.
Paid to the Gofball keep for clubs and balles at Roiston 4 October £1 11s 0d.
Lost to Sr Robert Deale at Goff the 4th October £2 0s 0d.
The origins of golf
First played on the eastern coast of Scotland, golf originated from players hitting a pebble over sand dunes with a stick or club. The first written record comes from 1457 when King James II of Scotland banned the game as it was too much of a distraction from military training. The ban was lifted in 1502 by King James IV who was a keen golfer and whose accounts show the first purchase of golf clubs in 1503.
Golf continued to be played in Scotland until King James VI of Scotland and I of England bought the game south when he succeeded to the English throne in 1603. King James I is known to have played golf in Scotland. Scottish accounts from 1603 record the purchase of golf clubs for the king’s use.
King James I’s oldest son, Prince Henry, is also known to have played golf. A letter from a French Ambassador sent from Richmond on 31 October 1606 notes that the prince liked to play a game similar to the French game Pall Mall, which was a croquet type game.
Who was George Villiers?
George Villiers was a courtier who rose to become one of the most famous and influential men of Stuart England. The handsome and charming Villiers caught the attention of King James I in 1614 when he served as a cupbearer in the king’s court.
Villiers soon became one of the king’s favourites, and was rewarded with affection, titles, influence and wealth. In 1623 Villiers was made the first Duke of Buckingham.
After King James’ death in 1625, Villiers continued as a close friend and advisor to King Charles I before his assassination in 1628.
George Villiers by Reubens, 1625.
King James I in Royston
King James first visited Royston on the way from Scotland to England for his coronation. Impressed by the potential of the area for hunting, he decided to build a hunting lodge here and over the next few years spent the equivalent of several million pounds on growing the estate.
The king was a frequent visitor to the town, preferring the informality of the countryside to the rules and ceremony of court. He would visit with a small group of trusted companions and spend his time hunting or in debate with Cambridge academics.
King James I's hunting lodge.
Golf clubs
Cambridge University Golf Club
The first golf club in Royston was started in 1869 by two Cambridge University students, George Gosset and Andrew Murray. Gosset and Murray (who later became a MP and the 1st Viscount Dunedin) came to Royston with a bag of golf clubs each and a hole cutter. Hiring three local boys as caddies they set out an 18-hole course on Therfield Heath by measuring the distance of their shots. They invited others to join and started the Cambridge University Golf Club with 17 members. However, the club closed by the end of 1871 because Royston was too far from Cambridge.
Royston Golf Club
Royston Golf Club officially started on May 1, 1892, using the same course that Gosset and Murray had made. With a yearly fee of one guinea, the club started with 56 members, which soon grew to 150 by 1894.
The new railways made travel to Royston easier with an express train from London only taking an hour. Club members had a discount on train tickets and were met at the station by a horse drawn carriage to take them to the course.
At first, golfers only had a small tin hut near the first tee, heated by a charcoal stove in winter. In 1894, the club decided to build a proper clubhouse near the town. The club grew and hired groundsmen and caddies from the town to help maintain the course.
The 1888 Act regulating access to Therfield Heath gave Royston residents the right to play golf on the Heath. Conservator tickets allowed them to play a round for one shilling.
By the early 1900s, the club was near its 300-member limit. Since members were coming from all over the country, the club decided to limit membership to people living within 15 miles of Royston.
The Clubhouse
Hand in Hand Club
The social rules and class divisions of the time excluded working-class people from joining the golf club. In May 1906, a proposal was made to form a Workmen’s Golf Club, leading to the creation of the Hand in Hand Club. Open to residents of Royston and Therfield, the club allowed its members to play on the course during certain hours, but they could not enter the main clubhouse.
After years of discussion, a separate clubhouse for the Hand in Hand Club opened in November 1910. In the 1930s, the club was renamed the Royston Artisan Golf Club. Declining membership led to its closure in 1978.
Royston Ladies’ Golf Club
The Royston Ladies’ Golf Club was formed in 1907. Members were allowed to play on the main course but had their tees placed nearer to the holes. They also had a separate clubhouse, described as "a sort of tin shack at the back of the main clubhouse" by Mrs. Goodale, a member who joined in 1912.
Golf became more popular in the 1920s, and by 1923, the Ladies' Club had 76 members. On June 16, 1927, the first match between the Royston Ladies’ Golf Club and the Royston Golf Club was held, which became an annual event. In 1956, due to financial problems caused by the Wars, the Ladies’ Club was taken over by the Royston Golf Club and became the Royston Golf Club Ladies Section.
The course on Therfield Heath