(Contd. from last week) The bounds of the Golf Links as now shown on the plan were adopted and certain bye-laws came into force as a result. The main rulings being that a penalty of stroke and distance was imposed on balls going out of bounds.All water through the greens was to be treated as [...]

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The Sundaytimes Sri Lanka

Ceylonese golf history – Priceless! Golfing laws take shape

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(Contd. from last week)
The bounds of the Golf Links as now shown on the plan were adopted and certain bye-laws came into force as a result. The main rulings being that a penalty of stroke and distance was imposed on balls going out of bounds.All water through the greens was to be treated as casual water except, the “ditch or any overflow thereof intersecting the 9th hole”, and the main bodies of water which were also to be treated as out of bounds; balls in rat holes and ant holes could be lifted and dropped under penalty of one stroke as could a ball in the railway cutting or embankment. (The Kelani Valley Railway line was commenced the year before – 1900)

Certain slight alterations were made later in the year and a new bye-law regarding the procedure to be adopted in the care of a ball on the wrong putting green – “Shall be lifted without penalty and dropped over the head off the green..” came into force.The President’s prize that year was won by S. Brown, 1 up on the 22nd Hole, making it one of the longest matches in the history of the Club. Later in the year a news paper cutting pasted in the Minutes Book gives a “record score by J. G. Melrose on Saturday evening in a private game.” He did 18 Holes in 72 strokes. “This eclipses all previous records and we doubt if 72 strokes will ever be beaten! –The current RCGC Course record stands at 61! However, it must be remembered that the ‘Bogie Score’ at the time was 79 and that he (Melrose) played with a gutty ball! Now revolutionized into 90/100 dimples/ soft middle for back spin.etc.

In 1902, a special General Meeting was also held that year and the proposal from the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club that members of the Colombo Golf Club be admitted free to Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, subject to ballot, and that the same terms be reciprocal, was carried unanimously. The Times reported that a similar meeting had been held at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club.Unsuspecting and innocent of the Great war to come later in the year, the Ceylon Championship was inaugurated at the Ridgeways in July 1914. There were 36 entries 9 (nine) Ceylonese namely, E.R. and F. de Saram, S.P.

Foenander, E. Reimers, F. Ondatjee, A. Bartholomeusz, H. Koch, Gladwin Koch and E.W. Foenander. Fred de Saram reached the quarter finals while all the others lost in the 1st or 2nd Round. By 1921 many other Ceylonese joined the challenge for the Ceylon Championship and Timothy de Silva became the first Ceylonese winner of the coveted title when he became Champion in 1923.

Timothy de Silva was not one of the idols of the sporting public nor a member of the leisure class but an unknown person of humble origin. By 1942 Inter Club matches with the Havelock Golf Club and the Victoria Golf Club which had been from time to time were now made an annual fixture, two matches against each club, home and away. The Colombo Golf Club won these encounters as well as the Burdett which was held in Nuwara Eliya. B.E. Weerasinghe, J.J. Weinman, W.W. La Brooy were the other Ceylonese who played a good game of Golf at that time. As years rolled by since the visit of H.R.H the Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII and later Duke of Windsor) to Ceylon in 1922 the conferring of ‘Royal’ status became a reality on 12th June 1928 and thus “Royal Colombo Golf Club” was ‘crowned’.
1929 was a significant year as it was the 50th Jubilee year of the Club and significantly was conferred Royal status the previous year. B. E. (Bertie) Weerasinghe of The Havelock Golf Club became Champion of Ceylon and became the second Ceylonese to win the Ceylon Amateur Championship. Bertie defeated Wedderburn, a Cambridge Blue, in the Final and was described as a worthy Champion, splashed in the Times.

To be continued next week




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