The Halford Hewitt

The Hewitt being contested on Royal St. Georges

This last week was my first trip overseas and one of the things I was most excited about was to meet new people and learn about different ways of life. While we in the States speak the same language and have a lot of similar interest to our English counterparts, there are little intricacies about the ways of life that lend themselves unique traditions. One is the rich history of boy’s preps schools in England. Though maybe more common in New England, this is rare type of school in the westerns states and from what I can imagine quite different to our traditional high school environment. It’s the comradery that is made at these school that lend themselves to the Halford Hewitt.

I first heard about the Halford Hewitt from Will on my train ride out to Sandwich. He was there to support his school. He told me about the cup and it being the largest competitive amateur tournament in the world and I thought, “Impossible! I would have heard about this before.” Chalk one up to American ignorance. Indeed, the Hewitt has 640 players from 64 schools playing on Sandwich’s prestigious courses, Royal St. Georges and Royal Ports. The teams are made up of 10 best amateurs that have attended the school. Some schools, have many interested parties so a try-out is held. Will’s school held a 36-hole competition consisting of stroke play and a match play portion where the team captains watched and chose the best 10 players to represent the group. The mates I met while playing Prince’s were from Rugby School (they invented their namesake game, a long, long time ago).  This year Rugby only had 12 players interested in the event and one was a new father so a tryout this year wasn’t necessary. As long as the schools keep fielding a team, they will keep being invited back. If they can’t field, there is a long list of prep schools waiting to get in. The format is simple, the 10 players from each team are paired making five-twosomes. They are then matched against a single competitor school to compete in an alternate-shot (foursomes), match-play event. At the end the round, whichever team has won more matches moves-on, the loser goes home. It’s March Madness for golf and I love it! I am convinced the Olympics should adopt something similar to bring out the spirit of the game. 

The boys from Rugby were great fun during our practice round, talented golfers and good all-round individuals. Two of the three had played Rugby at the university level, one at Creighton and the other at the University of St. Andrews in Scotland. Johnny, who attended St. Andrews, use to wake-up in his dorm room and overlook the 18^th hole at the Old Course. He explained, he wished he had spent less time drinking and more time golfing during his days at the university, but then again, don’t most of us.

A Premier Day

West Ham United vs. Swansea City

It was beautiful spring afternoon in London Stadium for my first Premier League game. I’ve been to many soccer games from the MLS’s Sounders and Real Salt Lake to college and high school games, but this was a bucket list item. Though the two teams weren’t close to being at the top of the table, the points they earned during the match would be valuable to avoid relegation. Though, still not my favorite sport to watch, I can appreciate the great game, especially the history. West Ham just moved into London Stadium this year from their long term home of Boleyn Ground. Fortunately, the team brought most of their traditions to their new home though the supports say the atmosphere at the 60,000+ person stadium, host of the 2012 Olympics, isn’t quite the same. Originally est. in 1895 as the Thames Iron Workers, the club affectionately goes by the nicknames the Irons or Hammers. The popular hashtag for the team’s social media posts is #COYI, which means, “Come On You Irons.” The shouts of the saying can be heard often during the game. It must be said that the game was one the most vulgar experiences that I’ve been to and I wouldn’t recommend for those with sensitive ears. The crowds for the matches can be so raucous that it is standard for the Premier League to not allow alcohol in the seats, though you can have a pint or two in the concourse before the match, and the visiting fans face a separate entrance. There were some pretty awesome moments including a goal in the 44’ minute that ignited the crowd in the team song “I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles” which has a long history dating back to late 1920’s. Watch this video below to get the full-effect and see the teams old stadium. The score remained 1-0 for the remainder of the game and all the Hammers went home content for the day.

 

Princes Golf Club

Prince's Golf Club

Sandwich Bay, Kent, England

There are good days and then there are unforgettable days. Thursday, April 6 was the latter. I awoke early and caught the tube from my London Hotel to Kings Cross/St. Pancras station where I boarded the 8:20 Southeastern Line train to Ramsgate via Sandwich. Why? To golf, of course. On the train, I met a few great people. One of my new mates, Will, explained to that he was headed out to the English Coast as well to watch the Halford Hewitt (click the link to lead more about this awesome tradition) taking place at Royal St. Georges and Royal Ports Golf Club. My goal for the day, however, was to conquer the most northern of the three Sandwich courses, Princes Golf Club.

I have played courses that are links style but never a true links course. Links is a term used to denote the “linking” of sea to suitable farmland. It should be known that links are generally a sandy, duney, wasteland, or golfer’s paradise. Princes is full of history, most prestigious hosting the 1932 Open Championship won by American Gene Sarazen. The course is on tap to host half of this year’s British Amateur as well. There are 27 holes at Prince's, I played the better two of the three nines in the Shore and Dunes. Most enjoyable about the layout was that there was an equal number of holes headed in each direction, including par 3’s and par 5’s. This is a crucial design feature as it can get very windy in these parts. I, however, enjoyed temperatures of 65 degrees F, nearly cloudless skies, and only a 10 MPH breeze (see the “unforgettable days” statement at the first of the post). Though it took me a few holes to get warmed up using the rental clubs, I was able to make back-to-back birdies on the 5^th and 6^th. I hit marvelous bunker shot, if I do say so myself, on 5 from about 95 yards that impressed my English playing partners greatly (more about these new mates in my next post about the Halford Hewitt). We played from the white tees and the yardage was about 6800 yards and even at sea level played short because of the immense amount of run you could get. A suggestion on two golf clubs that one might want to invest in for this style of play would include a 2-Iron and a good hybrid/rescue. Though I only lost one ball, the rescue will be necessary for all the fescue that surrounds ever whole. I was able to shoot in the 70’s on this new style of course for e and can’t wait to play something similar soon. Chambers Bay, anyone? 

If you ever have a free day in England this is a journey worth taking. Even if you have travel companions that aren’t interested in golf, they easily could get off the train in Dover and explore the castle and white cliff vistas while you play your round. The total price tag for the day was £165, around $200 with the current exchange rate, including golf (a £50 green fee), rental clubs, train ticket, lunch, and Sandwich Car (Uber is not yet a thing in this part of the world). Pro-tip: Renting clubs is not a bad option, it was a nearly new Titleist set, but bring your own golf glove and a few balls so you don’t have to pay club shop prices. Fortunately, I packed my own shoes.

Princes Dune #2

Princes Shore #1

Sandwich Train Station

Princes Dunes #4

Princes Dunes #5, First Bunker on the links

North Sea