Whiteleaf House passed to Phillips’ daughter Mary Guinevere Davies Way (nee Phillips) in October 1917. In 1919 it was Sold to George Macdonald Brown, who subsequently Sold it in the same year to William Joseph Ennever, the Founder of the Pelham Institute a Working Men’s Club in Kemptown, Brighton. When the House & Estate (which by this time had grown to approx. 70-acres) were put up for Auction again in 1919, Ennever decided to retain the House & the Golf Course, whilst disposing of the remainder. He then Sold the House to Lillie Edwardina Renison in September 1922. By 1924 Miss Maud R Taylor JP had acquired the Property & she retained Possession until it was Sold again in 1948.
I loved being there as a child but it concerns me now how they managed to run the place & bring up 3 children. There was only the 1-Living Room & the Scullery & Aunty Madge (Lizzies Sister) used to do all the Washing in that sort of Hut up the Garden (right). She always had the most awful chilblains in the Winter. It was a very hard life. Gran (Lizzie Ashby) used to cook lovely cakes for the Golfers Teas on that old (I think, Wood-burning Oven). I used to go up in theWoods wooding with Aunty Madge, dragging fallen Branches back for the Fire. I used to have to sleep in Aunty Madge’s bed with her & had a big China Pot under the bed! Oh dear! I often think of those times! – Elizabeth Mills
Steeped in History & Tradition, Whiteleaf Golf Club has an attractive Clubhouse originating from a short Row of 14thC Dwellings that included a Bodger’s Cottage. The Club was set up in 1907 as a 6-hole Course by Mrs Mary Phillips, a fine Sportswoman & Wife of Major Herbert Percy Davies Phillips of Whiteleaf House. She donated the Land & “Clubhouse” as is evidenced by the following extract from a Meeting was held at Whiteleaf House, on Friday, 16th August 1907, several Ladies & Gentlemen belonging to the neighbourhood assembling with the object of Inaugurating a Golf Club, on the Ground recently laid out by Mr Phillips close to the Village. Mr Phillips took the Chair & amongst those also present were. Mr Coningsby Disraeli, Rev Blamire Brown, Dr J T Bell, Dr & Mrs Watson, Mrs Phillips, the Misses Phillips, Messrs H B Aubrey, B Fieldwick, H Birrell & L S Wint. Several letters, expressing regret, at not being able to be present, were read from, amongst others, Rev A K Hobart-Hampden, Mr Birrel (Thame), Miss Clay & the Rev J W Cruikshank.
It was decided to form the Club & that the annual Subscription should be 1-Guinea for all joining within 2-months, after which 1-Guinea Entrance Fee to be Paid in addition. Mr Phillips was elected President & Mr Bernard Fieldwick Hon Secretary & Treasurer. After the Meeting, most of those present inspected the Course & more particularly the cosy little Clubhouse which Mrs Phillips has Furnished so tastefully. Mr Coningsby Disraeli then Launched the Club by Driving the 1st Ball, his Stroke being, by the way, a very good one. The Clubhouse was to be under the Supervision of Mrs Paxton.
The Clubhouse was originally a short Row of 14thC dwellings, which included a Bodgers Cottage, and has been extended & updated. The Access Road (Golf Club Lane) was Concreted in 1937, which allowed Members “to drive in comfort to the Clubhouse without having to combat skids & wheel spins on the Steep Gradients.”
The small Building to the rear of the Changing Room was the Professionals Shop. Rawleigh Hamer used to Run it
The Course: Tucked neatly behind Whiteleaf Cross & overlooked by Pulpit Hill with its Ancient Hill Fort. The Course underwent Major changes to its Design soon after the end of the WW1 & was extended to 9-holes after the Acquisition of additional Land & soon engaged in 1925 a 10 Guinea Consultation for the Design Services of Henry Shapland (Harry) Colt.
‘Harry’ Colt, the renowned Golf Course Architect of that Era; whom many describe as the Founder of Golf Course Architecture in the British Isles. Colt had a clear design philosophy. At the macro-level, one can expect his courses to possess a meticulously thought-out routing – a critical precondition for creating memorable holes. At the micro-level – the Golf Hole itself – he favoured sand-faced Bunkering (for visibility) and an asymmetrical arrangement of Hazards. Colt tended not to build Wild Greens. “The majority of Players,” he wrote, “desire to Hole out in 2-putts on each Green if they are putting well. They desire to experience some little difficulty in doing so because otherwise, they would derive no pleasure from success. Therefore a perfectly flat Green would not satisfy them. On the other hand, when they have avoided the Bunkers of the Fairway – & have played their ball on to the Putting Green, they do not like to find it is lying in a severe form of Hazard.” The Englishman’s consistency has had a beneficial effect on the Longevity of his work. “If something looks strange or out of place on a Colt Course, it’s been changed,” says Frank Pont, a Dutch Architect who has restored several of the Master’s European Designs.
Golf obviously existed before Harry Colt came along, but it was then a Game of straight lines & sharp angles. He softened those Lines, introduced Curves & long before the Art of Pacing Courses came into being, he created visual challenges to Tease & Intrigue the Golfer. Above all, he was the 1st to appreciate how Golf could be a delightful Walk through beautiful Vistas, perfectly Illustrated at Whiteleaf.
Colt principally concentrated his efforts in the UK & by the time he had finished he had left his Marks. At the Seaside he gave us Royal Lytham & St Annes, Royal Portrush, Co Sligo & much of the Character & current layout of the Honourable Company’s Pride & Joy at Muirfield. Inland we have those Jewels of the Surrey & Berkshire Sand Belt, the New Course at Sunningdale, Swinley Forest & Wentworth, plus many others throughout the Home Counties.
Cartoon by Dundonian & Aeronautical Draughtsman Sydney Jordan dated 1950 of Rawleigh Hamer who also hailed from the North (Cleethorpes North Lincoln) & was the Resident Professional at Whiteleaf Golf Club while living in his Trailer Caravan by the Entrance Gate due to the lack of available Accommodation.
Superbly modelled Portrait Head of Club Greenkeeper & Steward Harry Ashby which graced the Club House for many a year while Harry lived there. The Sculpture went along with Harry to his old Care Home at Berryfield Road, off the Princes Risborough Road from High Wycombe. It is no longer there as they moved to a new Building some years ago. Alas, when Harry passed away his revered Sculpted facsimile went AWOL – claimed to be in Bronze but may have been a Painted Plaster Cast
The Artist Mrs Maureen Coatman modelled it from life & she lived in Beech Cottage, Askett Lane, Askett (Nr the Three Crowns Pub); She exhibited the Portrait Head at the Royal Academy in 1965 & she also created a famous Bronze Head of the Racehorse Red Rum
Long-serving Steward, Harry Ashby oft seen Waistcoated with Watch & Chain & Pint in hand was Minuted on 22nd September 1928 as being permitted to ‘Graze a Cow’ in the adjacent Paddock – no doubt for a ready supply of fresh Milk & or for making Butter.
Maureen Margaret Coatman 1919-2005
Sculptress in various materials, born in Woking, Surrey. She attended Sherborne School for Girls & gained her Art Tuition privately with William Thomas Wood RAC and Sculpture with Enid Fenton Smith. Another example of her work can be seen in Monks Risborough Church – of St Dunstan, himself a skilled Metal Worker (after whom the Church was named) and Taming the Devil. He became Archbishop of Canterbury in 960AD & was made a Saint in 1029. There is an old story that St Dunstan won a fight with the Devil, pinching his nose with a pair of Blacksmith’s Tongs. The Devil is Evil in the World and St Dunstan represents Good, so this fight is for Supremacy. The Sculpture, mounted on the Wall near the Porch is made from Lead & Fibreglass. It was made in 1971 by Artist & Sculptress Maureen M Coatman who lived in Askett.
St Dunstan, as the story goes –
Once pull’d the Devil by the Nose
With red-hot Tongs, which made him roar
That he was heard 3-miles or more
St Dunstan, whose skill as a Smith is familiar to all, is known to have been Instrumental in Hanging, if not in Casting Bells; and as Archbishop at Canterbury, he gave careful directions for their correct use.
In June 1949, 7-Ladies including Miss Peggy Ashby, Harry’s Golfing daughter posed outside the Club House Entrance with the younger 5 of them wearing the new post-War dress mode of Trouser ‘Slacks‘. Northerner & Golf Professional Rawleigh Hamer courted Peggy (3rd from Right) & they were soon married & they moved in 1966 to Peterborough as a result of his new found responsibilities.
Aston Rowant & Chilterns Spring Line Villages 