Bernard Darwin

Bernard Darwin, the grandson of the famous naturalist Charles Darwin was one of the finest sport writers of his generation.

He was originally introduced to the links by his uncle, Colonel A Ruck who designed the original 9-hole layout and throughout his early years he witnessed first-hand the course grow.

Bernard Darwin was a highly capable amateur golfer, he featured in the Great Britain & Ireland Walker Cup team in 1922 and had 26 appearances in the British Amateur, reaching the semi final twice.

Bernard Darwin was also the club’s first Captain in the year 1897 and later the club President in 1944; his name is cemented in the club’s history and dotted around the clubhouse.

In his later years, Bernard, a golf correspondent for The Times and Country Life, in his many books on the game wrote frequently and lyrically about the delights of golf at Aberdovey. In his own words, Aberdovey was ‘the course that my soul loved best of all the courses in the world’. These famous words are written on the wall of our Darwin’s Bar in the clubhouse.

In 2005, Bernard Darwin was inducted in the World Golf Hall of fame, the first writer ever to receive the award.

To honour his legacy the club has built the new ‘Darwin’ championship tees in his name, these championship tees will take the course yardage to 6777.