A royal bash

Candle-light golf, inter-club events and honorary memberships mark the 175th Royal Calcutta Golf Club celebrations.

As the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the oldest golf club outside the British Isles, celebrates its 175th anniversary, virtually every prominent citizen of the city and visitors from across the country and the world are landing there to be part of the historic event.

One of the highlights of the week-long celebrations at the Club, which is in mint condition, is that invitations have been extended to several clubs across the world.

Since the event has the "Royal" tag, as many as 17 international clubs have sent their representatives for the celebration. The event has been jointly sponsored by Airtel and The Telegraph. The Kolkata-based newspaper's founder, Aveek Sarkar, is a member of the Club and a keen supporter of the game.

Among those who have sent their representatives include "Royal" clubs such as the famous Royal and Ancient, the Royal Birkdale, the Royal St George's, the Royal St, the Lytham (all from the British Isles) and the Royal Golf Clubs of Adelaide, Perth and Montreal. "It is truly a global celebration," says Brandon De Souza, whose company, Tiger Sports Marketing is organising the events.

Indian clubs too have been invited, with the strongest representation coming from southern India. The other participating clubs include the Delhi Golf Club, the Bombay Presidency GC and the Poona Golf Club.

Virtually every day is a party with day-long events for the junior and the senior members. For variety, "candle-light golf" is being organised and the the fairways will be lit with candles for an evening round.

In addition, there are competition matches for members and an inter-club event for the visiting clubs. "Virtually everyone who is here and has anything to do with the Royal Calcutta Golf Club gets to play and enjoy themselves," says de Souza.

For golf addicts, there is an additional bonus in the form of a "Day at the Races" at the Royal Calcutta Turf Club, the other historic sports club in the city. The club donated two cups in a seven-card race day, which was held this Friday. One was the Patrons Cup and the other was the RCGC 175th Year Cup.

"It seems the whole of Kolkata is here at the Royal this week," says De Souza. "The response of the sponsors, many of them city-based, has been amazing. Besides Airtel and The Telegraph, there is Eveready, Essar, RPG, Rasoi, among others."

Leander Paes, one of Kolkata's most famous sportsman, and former cricket captain, Kapil Dev, are being given honorary memberships as part of the celebrations.

And joining them in that special category will be Pawan Kant Munjal, managing director of Hero Honda Motors, and Sunil Mittal, managing director of Airtel, for their support to the game.

Meanwhile, Kolkata's most successful professional golfer, Arjun Atwal, the first Indian to play on the PGA Tour this year, gave the club a lot to cheer, as he slotted seven birdies in just 13 holes. He combined with Indrajit Bhalotia to beat Rahil Gangjee, the winner of the Volkswagen Masters in China this year, and Shiv Kapur, 2002 Asian Games gold medallist, in a charity event.

Coming to the history of the club, it was often referred to as the "Royal", an epithet conferred upon the Calcutta Golf Club by King George V at the Delhi Durbar in 1911.

There are no records available upto 1874, but one of its earliest evidence dating back to February 1876 recorded that a cup played for the Royal Blackhealth Medal cost Rs 25 and a golf set given away as prizes cost Rs 9.

The expenses for running the club, like a year's salary for the employees, was a mere Rs 720. The estimated liquor stock at the closing of accounts was Rs 200, which still must have been quite a big cellar.

The first Amateur Golf Championship of India was held at the Royal during the 1892 Christmas. Players came from Sri Lanka, Burma, Penang and Singapore to participate.

But it was only in 1912 that all the 18 holes were opened for play at the present location in Tollygunge. Membership of the Club, which stood at 420 in 1892, is now close to 3,000.

For many years, the Indian Open, India's oldest professional golf tournament, alternated between the Royal and the Delhi Golf Club. More recently, it has seen an odd edition or two at different venues but the charm of seeing the Indian Open in Tollygunge is quite something. And it was here, in 1998, that Feroze Ali was crowned champion.

This week the most famous sporting centre of Kolkata celebrates its big party and you can be sure that there will be many more landmarks before it hits a double century.