Canterbury Golf Club in Kent has launched a unique range of merchandise that features the instantly recognisable red and black bird that has featured on the club’s logo since its establishment in 1927.
Created in preparation for the club’s centenary celebrations next year, the one-off array of chough apparel and accessories was developed with the aim of creating a distinctive, wearable sub-brand that could be used both on and off the golf course.
The use of the chough (pronounced ‘chuff’) in the Canterbury Golf Club logo first drew inspiration from the historic crest of the City of Canterbury which features three choughs and three leopards.
The inclusion of the chough in the original design reflected the club’s strong ties to the notable city and its heritage, whilst today, importantly, this distinctive bird is used to embody the sense of community and tradition that exists in the historic club.
“Canterbury Golf Club’s adoption of and longstanding association with the chough makes it an obvious choice to incorporate in this new range of branded merchandise and is a fantastic way of marking our forthcoming centenary,” said Alan Holcroft, General Manager of Canterbury Golf Club.
“It is immediately recognisable to all our members and through it, engenders a sense of belonging and pride in being part of the golf club so much so that it has already become very popular amongst them, whilst it has also been well received by a lot of visiting golfers.”
Though first laid out as a downland course, the gradual introduction of oaks and silver birches along the fairways have altered the nature of the layout that now has more of a parkland feel, though a little gorse and broom can be found on some holes. Set on undulating terrain, the par71, 6,272-yard layout provides a challenging round of golf with its mix of open par 5s, tight par 4s and challenging par 3s.
Top 100 Golf Courses has Canterbury in at 13 in its Kent course ranking, a highly respectable position given the calibre of the almost 100 golf courses set in the picturesque, rolling countryside in the Garden of England.