Founded in 1829, Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) is the oldest golf club in India, and the first golf course outside British Isles after The Royal Ancient , St Andrews in Scotland , which is hailed as the home of the sport. RCGC was originally located near Dum Dum airport ( now Netaji Subhash Chandra Bose International Airport), moved to the Maiden in 1885 and finally to its present location at Tollygunge in 1910 ( the registered office of the club continues to be ar the Maidan )
King George V and Queen Mary conferred the title "Royal" to the Club to commemorate their visit to the city in 1911, which is how the club is affectionately referred to today. The greens at Royal are quite large by modern standards. Laid over what were originally paddy fields, the course is undulating , making it both inviting and challenging for experiences golfers. Ponds dot the course and trees and shrubs bordering it add to the pristine landscape.
The first amateur Golf Championship of India was held at the Royal in December 1982 with players from Ceylon, Penang , Burma and Singapore taking part. It is the second oldest running golf tournament in the world after the British Open.Much of the memorabilia - cups , medals , trophies - connected with the history of the club , 1874 onward,is preserved in the club house.
Being the first golf club in India, the Royal is the founder of the sport in the country , producing some of the best golfers, a popular name now associated with RCGC is that of Shiv Shankar Prasad Chowrasia. The son of a greenskeeper at the RCGC , Chowrasia worked as a caddie at the club for a few years before he entered professional golfing in 1997 and thereafter went on to win eight titles on the Indian Tour, the inaugural Indian Masters in 2008 and Avantha Masters in 2011. The self - taught golfer is nicknamed "Chip -putt-sia" because of his short game.
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