Built on land once owned by The Knights
Templar, The Temple Links, as the course was first known, was
designed in 1909 by Willie Park Junior. In 1901 he had designed
two nearby courses, Sunningdale and Huntercombe, and was the
first to go into print on golf course design. A Captain G
MacDonald (late Grenadier Guards) realised the potential in
'this 140 acres of the well known and beautiful Temple Park,
situated on the right bank of the Thames...' and formed a
Company to run the new golf club.
The course was described in the first
handbook as 'consisting, more or less, of a series of ridges
which have been skilfully utilised so that, whilst unnecessary
fatigue is avoided, there is very little that is flat or
uninteresting.' The hilly chalk lands ensured - and still do -
excellent drainage and a course that hardly ever had to close
due to adverse conditions. Many specimen trees had been planted
in Temple Park during the 19th century and these were integrated
into the course design.
During the early part of the twentieth
century the greenkeeper's tools were sickles, scythes, forks and
spades with fairway mowing equipment drawn by horses. The old
stable still stands in the woods behind the 16th tee.
Sheep grazed the hillsides. A local farmer cut and baled the hay
and this encouraged an abundance of flora, including six
different varieties of orchids.
Advances in technology and changing
fashions in golf course design and management have brought about
many detailed changes in course presentation. In the early 70s,
a green pop up irrigation system was installed at Temple, and
this has subsequently been extended to also cover the teeing
areas.
The course, however, was originally
designed as an 'inland links' and any temptation to extend the
irrigation system further to include fairways has been resisted
to retain this style. Consequently, the characteristics of the
course at any given time reflect the season giving the
discerning golfer an ever changing challenge throughout all
twelve months of the year as the course is only closed or
temporary greens in play during the most severe weather
conditions.