The Club was formed in 1909 by Captain G
MacDonald of The Guards Club in Maidenhead along with a number
of other officers and local gentry. Land was leased from the
estates of Bisham Abbey and Temple Park and Willie Park Junior
was commissioned to design and build the course. The Club opened
on May 10th 1910 and in 1911, the first club match was played
against Flackwell Heath Golf Club.
In 1912 Louis Oppenheimer was invited to
serve on the board so starting the long and continuing
association between the Oppenheimer family and Temple Golf Club.
Raymond Oppenheimer joined Temple as a
junior towards the end of the Great War. By the age of 16 his
handicap was down to scratch. He played for England before and
after the second world war and captained the team in 1947, 48,
50 and 51 during which year he also captained the Walker Cup
team. During this period, Walker Cup teams held training
weekends at Temple on more than one occasion. He was one of
those responsible for launching the Golf Foundation in 1952
which has done so much to promote golf amongst the young ever
since. He was elected President of Temple in 1956 and served in
that capacity until his death in 1984. During his lifetime,
Raymond Oppenheimer was friends with many of the games greatest
players including Sam Snead, Peter Thompson, Bobby Locke, Roger
and Joyce Wethered, Bobby Jones and Molly Gourlay and many of
them played at Temple. Molly Gourlay won the Temple Ladies Open
in 1922 and went on to represent Great Britain in many
international matches including the first Curtis Cup match at
Wentworth in 1932. He also took a close interest in the career
of Henry Cotton who was appointed as Professional at Temple in
1954.
Sir Henry Cotton MBE 1907-1987:
The towering figure of Henry Cotton, or Sir Henry as he became a
few days after his death on 22nd December 1987, was the Master
of British Golf for five decades. He was Open Champion three
times, a journalist writing all his own copy, author of many
books, keen photographer, course architect and designer and a
great teacher and supporter of young golfers.
From the very beginning, well known faces
have been seen at Temple including actors Sir Laurence Olivier,
Spencer Tracey, James Stewart and James Mason, aviators Amy
Johnston and Guy Gibson, Prince Bernhard and Queen Wilhelmina of
the Netherlands and the list goes on.
Temple also has a long tradition of
hosting Celebrity Golf Events in aid of charity. As early as
1952, a challenge match was held between Bing Crosby and Bob
Hope (America) and Ted Ray and Donald Peers (Great Britain),
which attracted huge crowds. In the 1980s, the Greg Norman
Invitation Event was staged at which he ran clinics and played
an exhibition match with members. More recently, some of
Britain's best-loved stars of sport and entertainment including
Michael Parkinson, Tim Brooke-Taylor, Laurie Holloway, Michael
Barratt, Kenny Lynch, Terry Wogan, Henry Cooper, Jimmy Tarbuck,
Peter Cook, Ray Clemence, Bernard Cribbins, Jeremy Bates, Jimmy
Hill, John Conteh, Gary Lineker, Rachael Heyhoe-Flint, Denis
Waterman, Alan Hansen and many, many more have turned out on a
number of occasions to play in the Temple Celebrity/Amateur Golf
Tournaments. These very enjoyable days have raised considerable
sums for Relate, the NSPCC and WAMSAD (Windsor, Ascot,
Maidenhead District Sports Association for the Disabled).