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Royal Colombo Golf Club 125th Anniversary
It is 125 years since the Royal Colombo Golf Club was inaugurated. The stone was laid and a Course was built on the Galle Face esplanade at a location in the neighborhood of the Army Hospital alongside the lake. South of this area was the Gardiner legacy the Galle Face Hotel which came into operation in 1864 and still going pretty strong.

The Royal Colombo is the 2nd oldest Royal Golf Club outside the British Isles with the Royal Calcutta Golf Club established 175 years ago identified as the oldest. During this period every imaginable game was played on Galle Face and the playing areas were so impossibly crowded that Golf was getting choked due to unlawful encroachment.

In 1895 the Colonial Secretary a avid golfer himself moved in and brought immense relief to all golfers when in consultation with Governor Sir James. West Ridgeway offered the Alfred Model Farm named after the son of Queen Victoria to the Golf Club.

Originally this land gifted to the Government belonged to Philanthropist Sir Charles Henry de Soysa the great-grandfather of Sriyan de Soysa the present President of the Sri Lanka Golf Union.

In December 1896 the course was opened by Governor Ridgeway and since then the Royal Colombo Golf Club Course has been named Ridgeways and today after much restructuring the course is an absolute beauty comparable with the best in our part of the world.

A special committee comprising Kumar Boralessa (Chairman) Sarath Piyaratne, Elmo de Silva, Primal Wijenayake, Ron Bakelmun, Sriyan de Soysa & Tita Nathanielsz will handle the elaborate arrangements connected with the opening ceremony, Cultural Pageant, Cocktail Party, Golf Tournaments, Receptions & the Award Ceremony and dinner at the Colombo Hilton.

I take this opportunity to record that popular Coach Henk Stevens from the Land of Tulips & Windmills has arrived to take charge of the Clinic at the Ridgeways of the Royal Colombo. Through this stint he will concentrate on the Juniors where exciting talent has been identified. Radha Sunderampillai the indefatigable Co-ordinator is once again in charge with Anne Captain & Elvera Merz to assist at call. They form a great trio.

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