Extracted from “Kuching 1868-1890: Charles Brooke (1)”
By Elizabeth Pollard
In the early 1890s, golf suddenly came into vogue and addicts could be seen hitting balls up and down the government grazing grounds. Nothing seemed to dampen their enthusiasm, and at last a course was laid out at government expense in 1899.
In the early 1890s, golf suddenly came into vogue and addicts could be seen hitting balls up and down the government grazing grounds. Nothing seemed to dampen their enthusiasm, and at last a course was laid out at government expense in 1899.
At first it was only a very small course, but later it was extended across what we now call Crookshank Road to make it into nine-hole course, and the first bi-monthly medal was awarded in september of the year.
Much had been written and said about the golfing days at the Golf links. Here is what The Sarawak Club Deputy President has to say it:
The Sarawak Club was home to the first golf course in East Malaysia. Golf was first played in the 1880s “across river” in the vicinity of the Astana. It was played on what was known to be grazing grounds for goal and cows!
The game was the moved and provided a proper 9-hole course. The golf course was situated on to what is today Jalan Ong Kee Hui (formerly known as Central Road) where some pepper vines were demolished to make way for six holes.
The course was further extended by another 3 holes into Crookshank Road around the 1900s.
Around 1920, the course was shifted to the site that is now occupied by the Civic Centre (Dewan Suarah) and the Amphitheatre (Panggung Udara). Holes 1, 2, 3 and 7, 8 and 9 were laid out on the site which is now occupied by the Civic Centre-Sarawak Lawn Tennis Courts. Holes 4, 5, 6 were sited across the road (Golf Links) at the site now occupied by the Amphitheatre. The 60-year lease for the golf course expired in 1980 and the course was allowed to remain on an annual renewal basis until 1986 when golfing was transferred over to Kelab Golf Sarawak (Sarawak Golf Club, KGS) in Petra Jaya. The site of the golf course was used to construct the Civic Centre and the Amphitheatre.
of note was the “Wise Men’s” group that comprised early morning golfers who would come to tee off just after dawn. Many would finish their games by 8.00 to 8.30 am and the assemble at the Golfers’ Shed ( a minangkabau-roofed structure adjoining the front before breaking off to start work for the day. The food that provided fuel for these discussions was produced by the reverend Mrs. Alex Tong whose mee siam and mee rebus were famous, while Pak Obeng is associated with the Club’s unforgettable satay. The Badger Bar (nicknamed “ The Tenth Hole”) was a popular place for settling bets after golf those mornings and afternoons.
The golf course fairways number three and nine were also used as a night driving range. This was absolutely packed after seven each night with golfing fraternity lining up along the roadside at Golf-Links Road firing toward the direction of the Nurses Quarters at Jalan Crookshank. Din, the local pro, was the teacher of all the golfers in those days.
The pro-shop, where golfers got most of their supplies from, was situated at the site of where the present committee car-parking lots are. this was operated by Mr. Jimmy Lim.
Tidbits on the Club’s Golfing History
- The first recorded Hole-in-One on this course was by C. W. Dawson in Hole 4 in 1948.
The last was achieved by teenager Elyna Effendi in Hole 5 on December 31, 1986 The last Golf Captain prior to the closure of the Sarawak Club Golf Course was Peter Lee Kok Chiang 1985-7.
The Sarawak Golf and Country Club (later called Kelab Golf Sarawak or KGS) was developed by the State Government to replace the old course. The State in 1984 made an offer to The Sarawak Club to take over KGS.
At a very tense EGM chaired by then-president, YAA Tan Sri Datuk Amar Lee Hun Hoe, members by a narrow margin voted to retain the Club and requested the Government allow The Sarawak Club to remain at its present site. They further requested the State to operate KGS under a separate entity and to allow those golfers who wished to join KGS to make separate arrangements to join. That led to the birth of KGS.
The members of The Sarawak Club later voted to re-develop the club to include a range of sporting and recreational facilities to enable it to continue to exist as a town club.
The old golf course subsequently closed for play in 1986 and the land was handed back to the state to make way for the Kuching Civic Centre or the Dewan Suarah across the road from the Club and the amphitheatre or Panggung Udara, next to the present swimming pool.
With the ensuing development that took place from 1988 to 1991, various facilities including new squash courts, a multi-purpose hall, a larger swimming pool, new library, larger Hornbill Restaurant and Hornbill Bar, a gymnasium and snookerium amongst others were built. But The Sarawak Club had lost its identity a a golf club, along with many reciprocal arrangements with some of the most prestigious golf courses in Malaysia and around the region. These reciprocal arrangements were invaluable as it allowed members to visit and use the golfing facilities of other golf clubs around the region.
At the time of writing work is underway for the construction of the new clubhouse and 18-hole golf adjacent to University Malaysia Sarawak (UNIMAS) at Kota Samarahan – a site sub- leased from UNIMAS with the full blessing and support of the State Government. Earth work and shaping of the 18-hole course has been completed and turfing for the first 9 holes done. The Club has plans and room for extension byu another 9 holes to 27 holes at the said site in the future.