The Origins Of Ganton

By Alex Miceli

Ganton, North Yorkshire, England -- About an hour's drive from Leeds through the North Yorkshire countryside sits one of the golfing gems of England, known as the Ganton Golf Club.

While the course is not an international golfing Mecca, Ganton has hosted 36 national and international championships, including the 1949 Ryder Cup, the 1964, '77 and '91 Amateur Championships and the 2000 Curtis Cup.

Some of the best-known architects in golf history have touched Ganton in some way. In 1891, Tom Chisholm of St. Andrews laid out the original venue known as Scarbourgh Golf Club (the name was changed to Ganton Golf Club in 1907).   The course took shape over an area of land that years before was part of an inlet for the North Sea . That possessed all the ingredients for a good links course, which included a natural sandy subsoil.

Along with the soil, the area that once was a part of Sir Charles Legard 's Ganton Estate was covered with whins and many varieties of grasses and wild flowers. That vegetation remains, marking the present-day Ganton layout as one of the most beautiful links venues in the British Isles.

Tom Dunn, who lengthened some of the holes, altered the original course slightly in 1893.

From 1896-1903, Harry Vardon, a six-time winner of the British Open, served as the professional at Ganton and brought an air of respectability to the club. It was matches between Vardon and J.H. Taylor in 1896 and Willie Park Jr. that put Ganton on the golfing map.

When Vardon won the 1900 U.S. Open he brought back that championship's trophy to Ganton.

In 1905 Vardon and Taylor, along with Ted Ray and James Braid, all had a hand in making changes to the Ganton Course. Harry Colt made further improvements in 1907, 1911 and 1931.

Dr. Alister McKenzie redid some of the greens in 1920 and C.K. Cotton made additional alterations in 1948 and 1952. The most recent changes, in 1963, came at the hands of Frank Pennick.

The original Ganton course, circa 1891, measured 4,260 yards. By 1908 the changes made by Dunn, Vardon, Taylor , Park, Ray and Braid produced a course of 5,702 yards. In its centennial year of 1991 the course measured 6,720 yards, and for this week's 2003 Walker Cup Match Ganton stretches to 6,894 yards.

Alex Miceli is a free-lance writer for the Golf Press Association.