Hayling Golf Club

We're aware that our links are more than a peaceful escape for members and visitors. It's also home to local wildlife, and we take huge pride in protecting our ecosystem just as much as we do presenting our links.

Being a great Course Manager doesn't mean living on site. Part of the job is getting out - walking championship setups, seeing other people's turf, and coming home with fresh ideas.

That's exactly what Graeme was doing last week at Merion, working at the United States Golf Association - USGA US Amateur. While we won't be adopting wicker baskets any time soon, a week spent setting up one of the best courses in the world, surrounded by some of the best Course Managers and Agronomists in the game, is only going to benefit us going forward.

He wasn't the only Englishman having a good week at Merion, either. Congratulations to Jack Whaley, only the third Englishman ever to lift the golden trophy!

We can't praise Graeme and his team enough in a summer like this.

They've battled daily 4am alarms and the driest summer on record, yet the course is still beautifully presented - something that would not be possible without their dedication.

143 years ago today, on 3rd August 1883, our beloved club was founded as 'The Hayling Island Golfing Club'.

To this day we are eternally grateful for the founders' foresight, and we are honoured to be custodians of this great links.

Pictured is our first Clubhouse, over 100 years ago.

Some of the key moments in our early history that shaped Hayling into what it is today 👇

1880 - The idea of golf at Hayling is born. Rev. J. Cu***ng Macdona writes in The Field that Fleetwood Sandeman plans to bring golf to Hayling.

1883 - The Club is founded. A meeting at Whin Hurst formally founds “The Hayling Island Golfing Club”, and Fleetwood Sandeman is elected Captain.

1884 - The Ladies Club is founded. Hayling Ladies’ Golf Club is formed (one of the earliest of it’s kind) with Ella Sandeman as Lady Secretary/Treasurer and Maud as first Lady Captain.

1884 - The 18 hole course opens.

1890 - The club changes its name from “Hayling Island Golfing Club” to “Hayling Golf Club”.

1893 - Subscription rise sparks resignations and legal dispute; the club moves decisively towards a member-controlled structure.

1899 - The first clubhouse is built.

Early summer mornings on the links are simply unmatched, and while the dewy surfaces look friendly, beneath are some of the firmest turf in the country.