In 1878, Royal Jersey Golf Club was established in Grouville, Jersey. For families struggling after the decline of the wooden shipbuilding industry on the island, the club presented a much-needed opportunity to make a little money. Phillip Vardon recognised this and sent his eldest son Harry, then just eight years old, to offer his services as a caddie. It was either that or menial labour, so Harry was happy to opt for carrying clubs.
He became fascinated by the game, watching the swings of the ‘gentlemen’ and studying their techniques and tactics. He fashioned himself a club and began hitting shots, imagining he was playing, and winning, some great championship somewhere. Ten years down the line, the daydream wouldn’t seem so fanciful.
After a few years working in domestic service, Harry took a job as an apprentice gardener for a Major Spofforth, a member at Royal Jersey. The Major caught Harry swinging one of his clubs, but there was no reprimand as the Major could recognise talent. After getting him to hit a few balls on the links adjacent to his garden, it was clear to the Major this was a champion golfer in the making, and that he had found himself a handy new partner for matches in which a small wager was generally on the line.
Harry and the Major saw off all the competition that Jersey had to offer and Harry’s game was constantly improving. After receiving word that his brother, Tom, had begun to win money in tournament golf on the mainland, Harry made the journey across the channel.
He took a job as greenkeeper at a nine-hole course on the private estate of the Earl of Ripon and later as the resident professional at a nine-hole club in Lancashire. He began winning money in low-stakes matches around the country.
At that time, professional golfers were second-class citizens – working class and lowly paid, they were viewed and treated as tradesmen. It would be many years before a professional was even allowed into a clubhouse. But Harry wasn’t particularly bothered at that stage about his social standing: he wanted to be a champion golfer.
Harry Vardon hits a tee shot.(Photo by PGA of America via Getty Images)
He practised supremely hard, developing a swing unlike those that had come before – he created a wide arc and was incredibly smooth through the strike. He gripped the club differently, too. Most professionals at the time adopted a split-hands baseball grip, but Harry put his hands together on the club, overlapping his right little…
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