The original Honiton Golf Club was founded in 1898 and disbanded in 1904. In January 1923 it was decided to restart the Club and Mrs Tratt gave permission for work on Marlpits Hill to start at once.

Curator of Honiton Museum, Margaret Lewis writes for the Herald.

An expert from Stoke Poges had inspected the ground and stated that it would make very sporty nine hole course.

Only three months after the decision was made, the opening ceremony was held. Despite the awful weather which kept some of the seventy members away, the intrepid Mayor of Honiton, Mrs Juanita Phillips slipped off her mink coat and picked up a golf club and hit a golf ball for the first time. She congratulated the town for getting the club restarted as recreation was very necessary for people, and it would also help the business interests of the town.

On a remote but ideal site 800 feet above sea level with commanding views for miles the club became popular – some visitors were welcome – some not.

William John Lilly was appointed as the club’s golf professional. He arrived at the club one afternoon to find that a window had been smashed and a man was sitting inside by a locker. Lilly let his dog out of the shed and the man escaped head first through a window and ran off in the Seaton direction. Six lockers had been opened and keys and a tin of Vaseline were missing. The culprit was arrested in Newton Abbot in possession of the Vaseline and was bound over for two years. There were many break ins over the following years.

With 180 members by 1934 the course was extended to 18 holes. During the war years they kept spending to a minimum and members cut the grass themselves. Two fairways had been ploughed up to enable food to be grown.

In 1949 Club Secretary Dr D Steele Perkins and Brian Selway (who had worked at the club for over fifty years) appeared in court charged with motoring offences. A van with no insurance, number plate or licence had been converted so that it could pull mowers and rollers. The doctor stood in the middle of the road while Brian drove the fifteen yards across the road to the other part of the course. The Club was fined 1s 6d – but neither men lost their licence and an exemption certificate was issued which enabled the highway to be crossed in future.

At the Club’s annual dinner in 1956 Mrs A V Campbell was congratulated on being the first woman in the Club’s history to hit a hole in one.