History

In 1918, the State Government confirmed a rumour that it intended to reclaim Petaling Hill for a public park. The club members then numbered 250 appointed a committee to negotiate with the Government.

In return for Petaling Hill, the Government agreed to provide the Club with an alternative site, put up the money necessary for the construction of a new clubhouse and provide an area sufficient for and an additional 18-holes as “compensation for disturbance”. The new site is where RSGC has remained till this day .

Part of the new site was occupied by the Forestry Department for tree planting research and part by mining concerns. The miners were persuaded to leave by the influential Choo Kia Peng, a respected member since 1909, in return for monetary compensation.

 

The Foresty Department on being approached, indicated that their experiments had served their purpose and had no objections to leaving. The beautiful Tembusu trees and some of the pond holes which are still around are legacies from the Club’s previous tenants.

Work started on the new site in 1920. By October 1921, the first nine holes (Second Nine, Old Course) and the clubhouse were ready.  In the same year, the Club was converted to a limited liability company. The memorandum of Association was established on 28 June 1921

The second nine holes (First Nine, Old Course) and eight tennis courts were opened the following year and a third nine (First Nine, New Course) was brought into play in 1924. The fourth nine (Second Nine, New Course ) was completed in 1931. A swimming pool was added in 1937 despite protests that “this is a golf club”. The Club continued to prosper thereafter into the region’s leading golfing facility.

Then came the Second World War in 1942. All golfing activity ceased. The Clubhouse was used as an arms school by the Japanese Occupation Forces. The courses became tapioca, bananas and vegetable patches. An airstrip and barracks were built on the course for military use. Squatters also moved in with hundreds of cattle.

Gradually, old members began to return to the Club while new ones were admitted. Competitions were revived and attracted plenty of zest and enthusiasm. Membership which stood at 975 in 1948 had increased to an astonishing 1,799 in 1953.

The Swimming Pool Pavilion was built in 1953. Records show that it was a Frank Lloyd’s design and today it is a classified Heritage Building.

In August 21 1953, the Club celebrated its Diamond Jubilee Year for attaining its 60 glorious years of existence.

In the mid-50s and after Malaya achieved independence in 1957, interest in golf among Asians was fuelled by the country’s first Prime Minister, Tunku Abdul Rahman Putra Al Haj. Being a very keen golfer, he encouraged many Asians to join the Club and take up the game.

The 60’s became a very important decade in the Club’s history with the birth in 1961 of the Putra Cup, a handsome golf trophy donated by the Prime Minister for a Southeast Asian Amateur Golf Team Championship.

In 1962, the Club hosted the first Malaysia Open and consecutively every year throughout this decade. Since this inaugural Open, the Club became home for both these events for several years, until other countries began to host the Putra Cup and other clubs in Malaysia took over hosting of the Malaysian Open.

1963 was a year which had great significance for the Club. It received its ‘Royal’ designation from His Majesty the Yang DiPertuan Agong, the DYMM Tunku Syed Putra Ibni Al-Marhum Syed Hasan Jamallulail, the Raja of Perlis Indera Kayangan. With the conferement of the ‘Royal’ title, the Club was renamed The Royal Selangor Golf Club which marked a new chapter in its history.

Since then, the Club has become Malaysia’s premier golf club and most exclusive. Interest in golf grew among the upper strata of the local population and was reflected in the Club’s membership till today. To meet burgeoning membership, parts of the Club were extended.

In 1965, a group of members who have been members of the defunct Sulaiman Club in Cheras, brought with them the nett assets of that club and donated it to the RSGC for the construction of the 9-holes Sulaiman Course and this course has become more of a beginner’s course nowadays.

In 1968, the Club’s crest came into existence.

Since the Club never really had a proper restaurant, an additional storey above the ‘Rotunda’ was built in 1974 and the restaurant was called ‘The Fairway’.

For the first time in 1977, the Club staged the Nomura Cup, Asia’s Amateur Golf Team Championship.

With increasing membership, further extensions were required. In 1978, two new blocks costing RM3 million were built, with a multi-purpose hall cum dining rooms, a Mixed Bar, a Men’s Bar, Men and Ladies Changing Rooms, Sauna, Squash Courts and hairdressing salons for men and ladies. The new Clubhouse was officially opened by the country’s then Prime Minister Tun Hussein Onn on 25 March 1979.

The switch from serangoon to tifdwarf grass on the New Course tees and greens was carried out in 1981, with all the greens re-sculptured.

 

To fulfill member’s demands, a new floor above the Men’s Bar and Men’s Changing Rooms was added in 1988, with a reading room, conference room, a new multi-purpose hall, a surau, a gymnasium and a viewing gallery. Since the Mixed Bar had never been too well patronised, it was converted to a western restaurant known as ‘The Green’. The opening of this section of the Clubhouse was officiated by Duli Yang Maha Mulia Seri Paduka Baginda Sultan Iskandaar, Yang DiPertuan Agong on 18 March 1989.

The Old Course greens were given a face-lift and were also converted from serangoon to tifdwarf grass. Work stated and was completed on the Second Nine in 1991 with alterations made on some holes. In 1992, the greens on the First Nine underwent the same transformation.

Another Professional Golf Championship which made its debut in 1992 at the RSGC was the Fairway Masters, which has since been renamed the Dunhill Malaysian Masters. This Masters was televised live here.

In 1993, the RSGC reached a mammoth milestone in its history. On 21 October, the Club attained its 100th year birthday. A grand celebration and series of events which filled the calendar were held to commemorate this great achievement, a long way since the Club came into existence a century ago. The Centenary Year closed on 31 December 1993 with the sealing of the Time Capsule.

In 1998, the Club adopted a stand to become a good corporate citizen and did its bit for charity by holding ‘The Charity Golf Competiton” and staging a musical concert in cooperation with The Kuala Lumpur Operafest Children Choir to raise funds for the poor and needy.

In October 1999, the renovation of the Suleiman Course was completed. Originally consisting of par 3’s only, this short course now has three par 4’s and six par 3’s.

The Clubhouse’s extension and renovation plan was approved in 1998 to build a new 2-storey administration block adjacent to the Clubhouse at cost of RM7.5 million. Works commenced in end 1999 and the entire new building was completed by August 2001. On 10 September 2001, the management staff moved into the new building.

 

After several years of quiet period, the Club hosted the 2001 Davidoff Nations Cup from 27 to 30 September 2001, the sole qualifying event for the EMC World Club.

Year 2002 saw the Malaysian Open Tournament returned to the grounds of the RSGC after it was last held here in 1994. The Open held from 28 February to 3 March was indeed a revived challenge for the Club after an eight-year lapse from being the host of this event.