Photos courtesy of Royal Selangor Golf Club
The Royal Selangor Golf Club was established in 1893, it is one of the oldest golf clubs in Asia. The club is strictly only for members. It has two 18-hole championship courses, the Old Course, the New Course, and a 9-hole course.
A member’s-only club, it’s a privilege to be able to play at the 130-year golf course. It’s not easy to become a member. Apart from its high membership fees, new members have to be nominated by two existing members before they can be assessed by the committee for membership at the club. You’ll find that many of their members have been part of the club for generations. Their grandfathers, father and sons or daughters will eventually become a member once they turn 21.
The club boast an elite group of members from royalty, ambassadors, top businessmen and high-ranking government officials.
Tournaments at Royal Selangor Golf Club
Photos courtesy of Royal Selangor Golf Club
The Malaysian Open was held at Royal Selangor almost every year from its inauguration in 1962 through to 1986. The tournament returned in 1993 and 1994, and again in 2002 when it was part of both the European Tour and Asian Tour. The tours were revisited in 2016, with the inaugural Maybank Championship Malaysia. In 1978, the club hosted the LPGA Tour’s Colgate Far East Open. Between 1988 and 1992, the Malaysian Masters, which was an Australasian Tour event for its final two years, was played at Royal Selangor.
In 1961, the first edition of the Putra Cup was held at the golf club. This was the first international tournament hosted in the state of Selangor. Teams from Burma, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam participated in the tournament. In 2006, the club held a royal competition that was hosted by the 12th Yang di-Pertuan Agong, HM Tuanku Syed Sirajuddin, 7th Raja of Perlis.
A rich history
Photos courtesy of Royal Selangor Golf Club
The founder members were among them the Glassford brothers, Clam and John and Kit and Robert Meikle. 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.
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 the year at $300″. Their work was completed in a few months and the course was opened for play on 21 August 1893. The Club has 30 founder members; the entrance fee was $5 and the monthly subscription is 50 cents at that time. 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.
For more information visit RSGC.
