HOW GOLF CAME TO HONG KONG
MODEST BEGINNINGS OF THE PRETTIEST COURSE IN THE FAR EAST
(BY OUR SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT)
978
When was golf introduced to Hong Kong? That question was fired at me the other evening and as I did not know the exact date then, I made some excuse or other but inwardly, I promised myself I would find that out, so I called on Col. E.D. Matthews, the courteous secretary of the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club, in the hope that he would be able to help me. I was not disappointed, for Col. Matthews very kindly supplied me with all possible available information and as a result of what I learned, I decided to write an article on Fanling which is generally acknowledged to be the prettiest golf course "east of Suez."
But to delve a little into the history of the game, the first golf match in Hong Kong took place sometime in 1888 when the late Sir Gershom Stewart and Capt. Murray Rumsey, the then Harbour Master, had a "friendly" match on the Race Course at Happy Valley. It was a rather poor apology for a golf course as there were no holes or greens while granite setts served to mark the distances.
TEN FOUNDATION MEMBERS
In the following year the Hong Kong Golf Club was inaugurated and it actually boasted ten members. To begin with the basement under the Grand Stand served to house the Club but later, when more support was forthcoming, a mat-shed was put up. This accommodated the members till 1895 when the Club house was erected. It is now a matter of history how this Club house was destroyed in the tragic Race Course fire of 1918.
EARLY DAYS AT FANLING
Let us go back, however, to the time when Fanling was first used as a golf course. It was in 1911 when the present Old Course was planned and by Christmas of the same year, the Club boasted an 18-hole course. Since then there has been steady progress and in 1916, the "Ladies 9-hole Course" was completed, after four years negotiations with the authorities. In 1919 more land was acquired and a further nine holes were laid out, making with the above nine holes, what was then termed the "New Course". In 1928 further land was acquired with the intention of lengthening the second nine holes of the New Course, but in 1929 this idea was abandoned. Instead, in 1930, further land was acquired and nine new holes were made and inserted between the second and third holes of the New Course.
Thus the old ninth became the eighteenth, and the nine holes, that had been the last nine of the New Course were turned into a separate "Relief Course".