Tandridge is possibly unique; not only did Harry Colt design the course, he had also selected the best plot of land in the neighbourhood to build it on. In 2010, the club made a decision to preserve and enhance that unique Colt heritage.
Colt-expert Frank Pont was appointed to produce a strategic plan, and it was ambitious. Over the years, bunkers had shrunk or disappeared, fairways had become narrower or moved, greens smaller, and the wrong species of trees had grown in various places. All of this served to weaken Colt’s original strategic test of golf.
Pont’s plan changed all of that, and following member consultations, the club committed funds to execute the plan over the next 4 years. The work was described by the editor of Golf Course Architecture as “perhaps the most dramatic restoration of a Golden Age golf course yet attempted in the UK”.
The project restored lost bunkers, enlarged others, re-introduced lost lines of play and added 250 yards to the course to cope with modern equipment.
The results saw Tandridge awarded the 2014 English Women’s Amateur Open Strokeplay, won over a composite course of white and yellow tees by 21 year-old Hayley Davis. Rises in course ranking lists followed, with promotion to Golf Monthly’s Top 100 courses in UK & Ireland in 2016.
To go along with modernisation of the golf course, there were major changes off it. After much soul-searching and navel-contemplating, the shorts with long-socks-only rule went in 2007 although colourful long hosiery is still regularly seen in action. Nowadays, the dress code aims to be relaxed yet presentable, with smart jeans accepted in the clubhouse.
More significantly, in 2018 the club changed its management structure from the time-honoured Captain’s Committee to a more effective two-level board system. The Board runs the strategy and finances of the club, and the Captains’ Committee runs the golf and social events. In 2003 Tandridge Golf Club was successfully incorporated into Tandridge Golf Club Limited (TGCL)
On a sadder note, the club was the victim of a smash and grab raid two days before Christmas in 2012 and lost 35 of its old trophies going back to the 1920s. Four other Surrey clubs were hit in the same period before the thieves realised that most silverware is not actually solid silver. The insurance cover provided a new array of glittering prizes, now kept rather more securely.
In 2018, the club bought ten acres of woodland alongside the 12th hole at the top of the course and started to open up again the glorious views that the doyen of all golf writers, Bernard Darwin, had experienced in the 1920s. “I think the first impression which the stranger gains of Tandridge is one of bigness and boldness. This is produced by its surroundings as well as by the course itself. The course stands high and enjoys a noble expanse of view.”
View to 12th green and beyond to the Weald Photo credit Kevin Murray
The club had received a great deal for its money with Pont’s 2010 plan, but time was to tell that more could and should have been spent on ensuring the bunkers - all 100 of them - remained playable at all times. In 2019, under newly-appointed course consultant Tim Lobb, President of the European Institute of Golf Course Architects, the club started doing precisely that and also refining the placement and design of some bunkers as a result of several years’ playing experience with the Frank Pont revisions.
For many years, modern equipment had outgunned the club’s driving range and restrictions on the use of drivers were in force. In 2021, this problem was solved with technology by adding a state-of-the-art indoor practice studio where members can drive balls down Augusta’s fairways to their heart’s content. And as the hot summers of the early 2020’s became longer and drier, the members backed a major investment to install fairway irrigation using a bore hole. The first phase was conducted over the Winter of 2022/23 in time for the club’s centenary, with a reservoir planned for phase two.
Of course, COVID-19 had a major effect on the club, ruling out play for several months, but bringing an influx of new members looking for the benefits of an active outdoor lifestyle while taking advantage of more flexible working patterns. The club introduced online tee-time booking which made life far easier for most. Because of the limit on the total number of members, there are almost always tee times available, every day, for those who prefer to make a late decision on whether to play.
Tandridge now has a healthy pipeline of prospective members, and the club is committed to being an attractive one for them to join. The characterful clubhouse remains as welcoming to members and visitors as ever, and the famous catering is the envy of clubs far and wide.
So we enter our second century full of enthusiasm for our course and club. We hope you will come and enjoy being part of our story, whether as a member, a guest or a visitor.