History

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The Changing Face of The Old Course >>>

OUR HISTORY & HERITAGE

"Birth notice" of the Selangor Golf Club. A reproduction from the January 1893 issue of the old "Selangor Journal" by kind permission of the Kuala Lumpur Book Club. It was inspired by the Glassford brothers.

It all began when several coffee planters thought that it was a jolly good idea for Kuala Lumpur to have a golf club.

On Friday the 13th of January 1893, they called for a meeting through a notice in the Selangor Journal (the publication which served as a sort of newspaper as well as an official bulletin).

"A meeting will be held at the Selangor Club on Saturday, the 21st inst., at 6.00 pm to consider the advisability of forming a Golf Club in Kuala Lumpur. All interested are invited to attend "

This brief notice constituted, for all practical purposes, the birth notice of the Selangor Golf Club. The proposed meeting was duly held, and a provisional committee appointed "to drawn up a scheme for the formation of a golf club". The founder Members were among them the Glassford brothers, Clam and John and Kit and Robert Meikle.

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Back in 1893, Kuala Lumpur was just a little more than a straggling township surrounded by jungle. Even in 1893, however, the game of golf was not new to Kuala Lumpur. A 5-hole course has been laid out in the town's public gardens - the Lake Gardens, but no Club had been formed yet. One of the first decisions the provisional committee had to make was whether to take over the Lake Garden Course or to break entirely new ground by laying out a new course on 80 acres of hilly land known as Petaling Street consisting of the area where the Victoria Institution, the Methodist Boys School, Stadium Merdeka and Stadium Negara now stand.

A major drawback of Petaling Hill was that it contained a disused graveyard whilst the chief argument against the Lake Gardens was that is was a place open to the public and tenure would be temporary. So Petaling Hill, with its grave and all, was chosen for its permanence, or so it was thought in 1893.

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KL in 1890s: Map showing the site of SGC Golf Course at Petaling Hill.

Left Photo: This is believed to be the only surviving photograph of the original Clubhouse at Petaling Hills.

Right Photo: Group photograph of Members and caddies in front of the Clubhouse.

The Glassford brothers together with A.T.D. Berrington, the Chief Magistrate of Selangor undertook the task of laying out the course. They estimated the expenses of " preparing the links and getting them in order for a year at $300". Their work was completed in a few months and the course was opened for play on 21st August 1893. The Club has 30 founder Members; entrance fee was $5 and monthly subscription 50 cents. The first Clubhouse was completed towards the end of 1894.

Surviving records show that a prize was offered for a ladies' handicap even in 1896. This is the first known reference to women's golf in Kuala Lumpur.

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In 1918, the State Government confirmed a rumour that it intended to reclaim Petaling Hill for a public park. The Club Members then numbered 250 appointed a committee to negotiate with the Government.

In return for Petaling Hill, the Government agreed to provide the Club with an alternative site, put up the money necessary for the construction of a new Clubhouse and provide an area sufficient for and an additional 18-holes as "compensation for disturbance". The new site is where RSGC has remained till this day .

Part of the new site was occupied by the Forestry Department for tree planting research and part by mining concerns. The miners were persuaded to leave by the influential Choo Kia Peng, a respected Member since 1909, in return for monetary compensation. The Foresty Department on being approached, indicated that their experiments had served their purpose and had no objections to leaving. The beautiful Tembusu trees and some of the pond holes which are still around are legacies from the Club's previous tenants.

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*Golf Tournament during the opening of the new Club House at Circular Road in 1921.

Work started on the new site in 1920. By October 1921,the first nine holes (Second Nine, Old Course) and the Clubhouse were ready.

In the same year, the Club was converted to a limited liability company. The memorandum of Association was established on 28 June 1921.

The second nine holes (First Nine, Old Course) and eight tennis courts were opened the following year and a third nine (First Nine, New Course) was brought into play in 1924. The fourth nine (Second Nine, New Course ) was completed in 1931. A swimming pool was added in 1937 despite protests that "this is a golf club". The Club continued to prosper thereafter into the region's leading golfing facility.

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Aerial view of the Clubhouse in the 1940s

Then came the Second World War in 1942. All golfing activity ceased. The Clubhouse was used as an arms school by the Japanese Occupation Forces. The courses became tapioca, bananas and vegetable patches. An airstrip and barracks were built on the course for military use. Squatters also moved in with hundreds of cattle.

The Japanese left the course derelict after the three and a half years of occupation. Here is a view of the new course (2nd Nine) as it appeared in January 1946.

"The first impression on inspecting the property" reported a Member after the war "was that golf would never again be played here !". He reckons without the Club's Professional,Tom Verity who returned after serving the Resistance Forces to rehabilitate the courses with the help of prisoners of war and primitive tools. Thanks largely to the effort of Tom Verify, by 1946, two nines were put into play and by 1948, all 36 holes had been restored to satisfactory playing condition.

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Popular Sunday morning rendezvous for the ladies and the children. A general view of the swimming pool.

Gradually, old Members began to return to the Club while new ones were admitted. Competitions were revived and attracted plenty of zest and enthusiasm. Membership which stood at 975 in 1948 had increased to an astonishing 1,799 in 1953.

The Swimming Pool Pavilion was built in 1953. Records show that it was a Frank Lloyd's design and today it is a classified Heritage Building.

In August 21 1953, the Club celebrated its Diamond Jubilee Year for attaining its 60 glorious years of existence.

In the mid-50s and after Malaya achieved independence in 1957, interest in golf among Asians was fuelled by the country's first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj. Being a very keen golfer, he encouraged many Asians to join the Club and take up the game.

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PUTRA CUP - The first opening ceremony held in 1961 at RSGC.

Teams from countries:- (from left) Burma, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaya, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam.

The 60's became a very important decade in the Club's history with the birth in 1961 of the Putra's Cup, a handsome golf trophy donated by the Prime Minister for a South East Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship.

In 1962, the Club hosted the first Malaysia Open and consecutively every year throughout this decade. Since this inaugural Open, the the Club became home for both these events for several years, until other countries began to host the Putra Cup and other clubs in Malaysia took over hosting of the Malaysia Open.

1963 was a year which had great significance for the Club. It received its 'Royal' designation from His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agong, the DYMM Tunku Syed Putra Ibni Al-Marhum Syed Hasan Jamallulail, the Raja of Perlis Indera Kayangan. With the conferement of the 'Royal' title, the Club was renamed The Royal Selangor Golf Club which marked a new chapter in its history.

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The First Malaysian Open winner, Frank Phillips receiving the trophy from Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra.

Since then, the Club has become Malaysia's premier golf club and most exclusive. Interest in golf grew among the upper strata of the local population and was reflected in the Club's membership till today. To meet burgeoning membership, parts of the Club were extended.

In 1965, a group of Members who have been members of the defunct Suleiman Club in Cheras, Kuala Lumpur brought with them the nett assets of that club and donated it to the RSGC for the construction of the 9-holes Suleiman Course. This course has become more of a beginner's course nowadays.

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The Club's crest came into existence in 1968.

In 1968, the Club's crest came into existence. Edmund Yong the newly-elected Captain consulted David Joyce (a Member), a prize-winning architect who has done many coat-of-arms designs. Edmund then juggled with David's 30 or so designs.

"A shield is a shield and the local symbols of power, strength and justice are symbolised by the pair of Keris." (Keris is the sword possessed by royalties and used by warriors of ancient times of the Malay Archipelago) . The crown signifies 'royalty' and the three colours of green, red and yellow are from the Club's flag. Green signifies the golf course, and the red and yellow are the Selangor State colours.

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The Clubhouse prior to re-building.

... and in 1979.

Since the Club never really had a proper restaurant, an additional storey above the 'Rotunda' was built in 1974 and the restaurant was called "The Fairway".

For the first time in 1977, the Club staged the Nomura Cup, Asia's Amateur Golf Team Championship.

With increasing membership, further extensions were required. In 1978, two new blocks costing RM3 million were built, with a multi-purpose hall cum dining rooms, a Mixed Bar, a Men's Bar, Men and Ladies Changing Rooms, Sauna, Squash Courts and hairdressing salons for men and ladies. The newly Clubhouse was officially opened by the country's Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn on 25th March 1979.

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Left Photo: Clubhouse before 1988
Right Photo: Clubhouse after 1988

The switch from serangoon to tifdwarf grass on the New Course tees and greens was carried out in 1981, with all the greens re-sculptured.

To fulfill Member's demands, a new floor above the Men's Bar and Men's Changing Rooms was added in 1988, with a reading room, conference room, a new multi-purpose hall, a surau, a gymnasium and a viewing gallery. Since the Mixed Bar had never been too well patronised, it was converted to a western restaurant known as "The Green". The opening of this section of the Clubhouse was officiated by Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Sultan Iskandaar, Yang DiPertuan Agong on 18 March 1989.

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The Old Course greens were given a face-lift and were also converted from serangoon to tifdwarf grass. Work stated and was completed on the Second Nine in 1991 with alterations made on some holes. In 1992, the greens on the First Nine underwent the same transformation.

Another Professional Golf Championship which made its debut in 1992 at the RSGC was the Fairway Masters, which has since been renamed the Dunhill Malaysian Masters. This Masters was televised live here.

In 1993, the RSGC reached a mammoth milestone in its history. On 21st October, the Club attained its 100th birthday. It was a long, long journey since the Club came into existence a century ago. A grand celebration and series of carnival-like events were held in a grandiose style to commemorate this auspicious occasion. The Centenary Year closed on 31st December with the sealing of the Time Capsule near the tee-box of the 1st Hole, Old Course.

In 1998, the Club adopted a stand to become a good corporate citizen and did its bit for charity by holding 'The Charity Golf Competiton" and staging a musical concert in cooperation with The Kuala Lumpur Operafest Children Choir to raise funds for the poor and needy.

In October 1999, the renovation of the Suleiman Course was completed. Originally consisting of par 3's only, this short course now has three par 4's and six par 3's.

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