Herbert Charles Tippet facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Herbert Charles Tippet
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| Born |
Herbert Charles Coningsby Tippet
23 November 1891 Newport, Monmouthshire, Wales
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| Died | 28 November 1947 (aged 56) Brede, Sussex, England
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| Occupation | Golf course architect and golf club secretary |
| Years active | 1919–47 |
| Known for | Designing golf courses in USA, UK and Ireland |
| Spouse(s) |
Edith Marguerite Harrington
(m. 1921) |
Herbert Charles Coningsby Tippet (born November 23, 1891 – died November 28, 1947) was an important British amateur golfer. He also managed golf clubs and designed golf courses between the two World Wars. He was once a soldier and later worked closely with Carl G. Fisher, a rich American who created Miami Beach, Florida. Tippet designed many golf courses for Fisher in Florida and Long Island. He was one of the best amateur golfers in Britain during the 1920s and 1930s. Later, he became the secretary at several famous golf clubs in the UK. He was also the second husband of Edith Marguerite Harrington, who was the grandmother of Queen Camilla.
Contents
Early Life and Army Training
Herbert Charles Coningsby Tippet, who preferred to be called Charles, was born in Newport, Wales, on November 23, 1891. His family was from the south-west of England, and he grew up in Bristol and Sudbury, Suffolk. His father was a retired army officer who became a surveyor and loved golf. Charles's father fought in the Second Boer War and later died while serving in Gallipoli during World War I. He had also started the Newton Green Golf Club.
Charles was the only son among three children. He learned two important things from his father: a love for the British Army and a great talent for golf. Everyone expected Charles to join the army like his father. While at school, he was part of the Army Cadet Force. In 1908, he became a Second Lieutenant in the 5th Battalion of the Suffolk Regiment.
Military Career
After leaving school in 1910, Tippet did not become a full-time soldier. Instead, he trained as a Land Surveyor. This skill later helped him design golf courses. He joined the Special Reserve of Officers in 1910, becoming a part-time officer for the Royal Dublin Fusiliers. These officers were trained civilians who could be called up if there was a war.
He completed six months of basic officer training in 1910 and 1911. By then, he loved golf and became a successful amateur player before World War I. He played for the Royal North Devon Golf Club. In 1911, he was promoted to Lieutenant. In 1913, he became an Officer Instructor of Musketry, teaching soldiers how to use small arms.
Tippet became a full-time soldier when World War I began. He was promoted to Captain in September 1914. For the first two years of the war, he worked in training units. But in 1916, he saw action for the first time.
Fighting in Dublin and France
On April 24, 1916, the Easter Rising happened in Dublin. The next day, Tippet's battalion was sent to stop the uprising. They fought the rebels in the city center. After the rebels left, his battalion surrounded the area until the fighting ended.
Soon after, Tippet went to France. His regiment had lost many soldiers in a battle near Loos, and they needed replacements. On May 14, 1916, he was sent to France to prepare for the Battle of the Somme. He fought in the Battle of Ginchy in September 1916. In July 1917, he became a Staff Captain for the 39th Division. He took part in the Third Battle of Ypres.
Tippet was recognized for his bravery at Passchendaele in November 1917. From March to April 1918, he fought in the First Battles of the Somme. His division suffered many losses while stopping the Germans. Tippet was wounded in the head by shrapnel. For his bravery, he was awarded the Military Cross. This award is given for "exemplary gallantry during active operations against the enemy."
After recovering, Tippet served as a Staff Captain for the 52nd Lowland Division until the war ended.
Life After the War
Tippet's physical injuries healed, but the mental effects of war stayed with him. After fighting on the Somme and at Passchendaele, he suffered from shell-shock. This meant he couldn't handle sudden loud noises, and this condition lasted his whole life. This medical condition ended his army career. He left the army in 1919 but continued to be known as Captain Tippet.
He tried to rejoin the army when World War II started. In May 1940, he became a Lieutenant in the General Service Corps. He was given the honorary rank of Captain. However, he did not see active service and was released in 1943 due to his health. He was then given the honorary rank of Major for life in 1944.
Golfing Career
After leaving the army due to his health, Tippet needed a new job. He decided to work in golf. Even though he was a very good golfer, he never played as a professional. He was best at managing golf clubs and designing courses. He learned by studying the methods of famous golf course designers like Old Tom Morris and James Braid.
In 1919, Tippet became the manager of Ashford Manor Golf Club in England. He worked for Harold Hilton, a famous golfer who won two British Amateur championships. Tippet learned how to run a golf club from Hilton. The next year, Tippet won the Kashmir Cup, a big golf competition.
Harold Hilton was well-known in both Britain and America. He was a member of the Apawamis Golf Club in New York. In 1921, when the Meadow Brook Golf Club in Long Island, New York, needed a new secretary, Hilton recommended Charles Tippet. Tippet moved to New York in November 1921, and his wife and step-son joined him a month later.
Designing Golf Courses in America
Meadow Brook was a nine-hole golf course. Tippet started improving it and quickly became known as a good course designer. He liked to work with clay models instead of drawings. Soon, rich people hired him to design nine-hole courses on their private estates in Long Island. His first big project was to design two 18-hole courses and one 9-hole course at the former William Phelps Manor in New Jersey. One of these courses is now the Overpeck Golf Club.
While working as a club secretary, Tippet also played as an amateur in golf tournaments. He was the best amateur in the Metropolitan Open in 1922. In 1923, he finished second in the Metropolitan Amateur. He met many top U.S. golfers, including the famous Gene Sarazen.
That year, Tippet met Carl Graham Fisher, a millionaire who developed Miami Beach. Fisher was planning to build golf courses in Miami. Tippet was recommended to design them and worked closely with Fisher for several years. Golf was becoming very popular in America after World War I. Americans looked to Britain for ideas on coaching and course design.
Tippet's first design for Fisher was to change the Bayshore Golf Club in Miami. His redesigned course opened in 1923. Later, he designed the 18-hole championship course at La Gorce. This course was built on a former swamp and opened in 1927. These courses were part of Fisher's Miami Beach Golf Club, which he hoped would attract rich people to Florida. In 1923, Tippet moved to Florida with his family and became the golf director at Miami Beach. Fisher even built a house for him with a tower so he could watch both courses.
The next year, Tippet designed two more courses in Florida for Fisher. One was at the Hollywood Beach Hotel Country Club. The other was for the Nautilus Hotel at Miami Beach. He also designed a nine-hole course at Homestead, Miami.
Tippet continued to play in amateur events. In 1924, he won the Dixie Amateur and was the top amateur in the Miami Open. Around this time, he met Robert Trent Jones, who would later become a very famous golf course architect. Tippet helped persuade Jones and Sarazen to play in the first La Gorce Open, a professional golf tournament.
In 1925, Tippet believed that Florida needed ten more golf courses because of the growing demand. He managed the Bayshore and Miami Beach Golf Clubs, as well as the Flamingo Hotel nine-hole course, which he had designed.
Tippet also designed a public course at Normandy Isle, Florida. However, due to the Great Depression, the project was delayed. In 1925, Tippet worked with Gene Sarazen on a new project called Golf Park, north of Miami. This new club and course opened in 1926. Unfortunately, the course was damaged by bad weather and then hit by the 1926 Miami hurricane. This caused the project to fail, and the golf club closed in 1927.
Another public course, Westside, opened in Fort Lauderdale in November 1926. This course later became the Fort Lauderdale Golf and Country Club.
Fisher then wanted to build a "Miami of the North" in Long Island. In 1926, he asked Captain Tippet to design two new courses there. An 18-hole course at Montauk Downs opened in 1927. This course is still considered one of the most difficult on Long Island. A second course was built at Hither Hills, but it didn't last long. The Long Island project was not a financial success. Tippet's work with Fisher ended when the Wall Street Crash of 1929 stopped the golf course building boom in America.
Return to England
In January 1927, Tippet won his last amateur tournament in America. He then returned to England in April to become the secretary of the Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, a famous club where the Prince of Wales was captain. He also started playing in UK amateur competitions again. In 1931, he reached the fifth round of the British Amateur Championship. The next year, he reached the quarter-finals and was considered for the Walker Cup team. In 1935, he won the London Amateur Foursomes. He was also captain of the Surrey County Golf Union from 1938 to 1947.
After ten years at Royal Wimbledon, Tippet moved to Walton Heath Golf Club in 1937, where he was secretary until 1945. In 1938, he was asked to redesign Tramore Golf Club in Ireland. The next year, he redesigned part of Walton Heath.
In 1945, he became secretary at Rye Golf Club in Sussex. The club had been badly damaged during the war, and Tippet was tasked with repairing and rebuilding it. He also created new holes to avoid a road. However, Major Tippet was not well. His nerves had been affected by the war, and he had been released from the army in 1943. This was his last job. On November 26, 1947, he collapsed at his office and died two days later.
Golf Course Design Style
Tippet's style was simple. He followed the design ideas he learned from Morris and Braid. Many other designers in the 1920s were moving away from these traditional ideas. British and American course designers had different approaches. British designers preferred the natural "links" style, while American designers were creating more landscaped courses.
Tippet did not make his courses too complicated. He avoided using too many bunkers (sand traps) or other obstacles behind the greens. Instead, he used the natural shape of the land to create challenges. For example, at Montauk Downs, the natural hills made the course feel like a Scottish one.
Of La Gorce, people said that even though it wasn't very long, its design and challenges made it a difficult course. Tramore Golf Club still proudly mentions Tippet's connection. Only at the Golf Park course did he use many bunkers, making golfers use every club in their bag.
Generally, his greens were flat. He avoided the artificial bumps and dips that other designers used. These bumps made holes harder but didn't change the par (the expected number of strokes). Tippet's courses, however, gave players a more realistic chance to get par. This made them popular with both professional and recreational golfers.
Personal Life
In November 1921, Tippet married Edith Marguerite Shand (born Harrington) in London. Edith had a son from her first marriage, Bruce Shand (1917–2006), who was the father of Queen Camilla. After his marriage, Tippet moved to New York for his job at Meadow Brook. His wife and step-son joined him later. They lived in America until 1927 when Tippet returned to England. Bruce Shand went to Rugby School, and his education was paid for by his father's family, with whom the Tippets remained friends. Edith Tippet lived for 33 years after her husband died, passing away in 1981. They did not have any children together.
Even though the Tippets enjoyed a fancy lifestyle in America during the 1920s, Tippet was never a rich man. He was a very skilled golfer, and if he had played professionally today, he would have earned a lot of money. But because he was an amateur, he didn't earn anything from playing. After his design contracts in America ended, he earned a modest income as a golf club manager. He didn't own any of the homes he lived in and left behind few assets. However, even though his golfing achievements are mostly forgotten, several of the golf courses Charles Tippet designed, especially in America and Ireland, still proudly mention his name.
Golf Courses Designed, Redesigned, or Improved by Tippet
- Meadow Brook, Long Island, NY. USA (improvements), 1921
- Upland House 9-hole private course, Westbury, Long Island, NY, USA. 1922
- Jericho Farm 9-hole private course, Westbury, Long Island, NY, USA, 1922
- Lindens 9-hole private course, Port Washington, Long Island, NY, USA, 1922
- Phelps Manor, Teaneck, NJ, USA (now Overpeck Golf Club), 1923
- Bayshore, Miami, FL. USA (now Miami Beach Golf Club), alterations 1923, re-built 1933
- Bayshore 9-Hole, Miami, FL. USA,(now Miami Beach Municipal) 1923
- La Gorce, Miami, FL. USA, designed 1923, opened 1927, re-built 1969
- Flamingo Hotel 9-hole, Biscayne Bay, FL. USA 1923 (to a public park 1930, since built over)
- Hollywood Beach Hotel and Country Club, Hollywood Beach, FL, USA, 1924, re-built 1929
- Nautilus Hotel, Miami Beach, FL, USA, 1924 (since built over)
- Homestead, Miami Beach, FL, USA, 1924 (re-opened as Redland Golf & Country Club, 1947)
- Golf Park, Miami, FL. USA, 1926 (later Westview Country Club, closed 2011)
- Westside, Fort Lauderdale, FL. USA, (now Fort Lauderdale Golf Club) 1926, re-built 2007
- Normandy Isle, Miami Beach, FL. USA, (now Normandy Shores) 1927 (design amended 1937)
- Montauk Downs, Long Island, NY. USA, 1926-1927
- Hither Hills, Long Island, NY. USA (no longer in existence), 1926-1927
- Tramore, Waterford, Ireland, (re-built) 1938
- Walton Heath, Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, UK (new 5th, 6th and 7th holes) 1939
- Rye, Sussex, UK, (re-design of 2nd and 7th holes) 1945
Golf Clubs Represented by Tippet
- Newton Green, Sudbury, UK
- Royal Dublin, Dublin, Ireland
- Royal North Devon, Westward Ho! UK
- Ashford Manor, Ashford, UK
- Meadow Brook, Long Island, NY. USA
- Lido, Long Island, NY, USA
- Royal Wimbledon, London, UK
- Walton Heath, Walton-on-the-Hill, UK
- Rye, Sussex, UK
Golf Clubs Managed by Tippet
- Ashford Manor Golf Club, Ashford, Middlesex, UK, Manager, 1919-1921
- Meadow Brook Golf & Polo Club, Westbury, Long Island, NY, USA, Secretary, 1921-1923
- Miami Beach Golf Club, Miami, FL, USA, Golf Director, 1923-1927
- Flamingo Hotel Golf and Polo Clubs, Biscayne Bay, FL, USA, Manager 1925-1927
- Royal Wimbledon Golf Club, London, UK, Secretary, 1927-1937
- Walton Heath Golf Club, Walton-on-the-Hill, Surrey, UK, Secretary, 1937-1945
- Rye Golf Club, Rye, Sussex, UK, Secretary, 1945-1947
