Royal North Devon is England's oldest golf course but it has just recorded one of the more unexpected episodes in its long history.
On Wednesday, 11 November, an unexploded WW2 bomb was discovered on the famed property.
The club explained on social media (you can follow them on Facebook or X/Twitter) that greenkeepers had uncovered the device when digging a trench between the car park and the club's modern nine-hole par three layout, the Taylor Course (named after local golf legend John Henry Taylor), which naturally caused a bit of alarm.
Describing the outcome, the club said: "Bomb disposal experts were called and areas of the clubhouse were closed. After considering options that included moving the bomb to the beach and detonating it, the bomb disposal eventually took the 80-year-old ordnance away for further investigation."
(Image Credit: Royal North Devon Golf Club)
Somehow, it seemed fitting that during a week of Remembrance commemorations nationwide, this tangible reminder of the impact that the Second World War had on this country was rediscovered more than eight decades later.
Located in Westward Ho!, Devon, it was the legendary Old Tom Morris himself who laid out the links here, which were established back in 1864. The course remains the oldest in England that is still played on its original ground, making it a truly special landscape to experience.
Some years ago, Golfshake Ambassador Andy Picken had the opportunity to play this revered links, which was a day that he recalled with relish in this review: "This is a place of huge historical importance. Inside the warm and welcoming clubhouse, the golf museum, honours boards and trophies are worth a visit on their own.
"Royal North Devon is pure, raw exhilaration and ultimately the experience of playing a fast running links in a stiff breeze will still test the very best in the game. We played it in beautiful sunshine with a gentle wind blowing in from the sea. I imagine it was at its most benign and some of the holes still bit me quite sharply."
Played on common land over the 650 acres of Northam Burrows, Royal North Devon is one of those rare and treasured golfing jewels that takes you back to the origins of the game, celebrating what makes this sport timeless, but you would be fooled to think that this was just a museum piece, as the layout itself remains a challenging and thrilling test of golf.
Andy continued: "Although golf has changed hugely in the last century and continues to develop, a great links course will always stand the test of time. This one has hardly changed over nearly 150 years and to play it is like taking a step back in time.
"This course was an absolute pleasure to experience, one that I would happily repeat again and again."
Royal North Devon has seen many fabled chapters during its lifetime, with this latest episode being the newest addition to that storied legacy, which has been a reminder that our most historic courses are forever entwined with the landscape and the environment that surrounds them.
While memories of the Second World War begin to fade into the mists of time, this incident was a brief reconnection to a period of history that created the world that we've all come to know today.
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