History

Created by a dozen men from points between Belfast and Bangor, Helen's Bay Golf Club was formed in the "Temperance Cafe", a haunt of businessmen in the heart of Belfast in 1896.


Not only did they seek outstanding beauty and inspiring terrain, these wise men picked land within strolling distance of a railway station. That was no accident. Only a handful of houses existed in Helen's Bay at the time and there could have been no club without the County Down Railway to bring in the players.

Early minute books are full of references to competitions timed to begin ten minutes after the arrival of trains from the city and a few old members still recall tramping the sleepers home to Belfast on nights when they tarried too long in the clubhouse.


The first Marquis of Dufferin and Ava agreed to rent farmland for the construction of the course and it was the marquis who planted the small, artfully sited woods on the course and named them 'Chimera Wood', 'Talisman Clump' and 'Erminia Clump'. They were named after yachts the Marquis raced in many waters.


In a letter from the British Embassy in Paris, dated March  20, 1896, he accepted with pleasure an invitation to be the fledgling club's patron. An earlier letter from the marquis, still in the club's possession, reads - "I beg to say that it would be a great pleasure for me if I might be allowed to place at the disposal of the Helen's Bay Golf Club, a silver medal, to be competed for by the members, the terms of the contest to be decided in whatever manner the committee of the club may deem proper." Thus arrived the Dufferin Medal - the club's oldest and most-prized trophy.


From the beginning, Helen's Bay was a club of men and women co-existing happily. The first captains were husband and wife, Herbert and Kathleen Brown who lived in ' what is now known as 'Bennet House' in Kathleen Avenue.

As the club developed golf standards improved and Helen's Bay went to Dublin in 1910 to win the Golfing Union of Ireland's Junior Cup. Led by the club captain, A. Henderson, the seven-man side beat Greenisland 6 - I and Fortwilliam 4 - 3 before travelling by train to battle with the best of the south.


In the summer of 1911, a guest of a member could enjoy eighteen holes for a  green-fee of one shilling. A few pennies purchased the services of a caddy.


Two years later the first official price-list for food in the club dated February, 1913 was introduced. A cup of tea and biscuits was fixed at threepence. Tea, bread, butter and preserves cost sixpence. Boiled eggs came at twopence each and members could supply their own meat, potatoes and vegetables to be cooked for ninepence.



Extracted from "Helen's Bay Golf Club: The First Century"
Edited by Bill Clark
Published by Helen's Bay Golf Club
ISBN 0 9527346 0 5
Printed in Northern Ireland by Dorman and Sons Ltd, Belfast
To purchase a copy of the book please contact the office