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Founded on June 24, 1976,
the
Bangalore
golf Club is the second oldest in
India
. It also has the distinction of hosting the oldest inter-club tournament in
the country with Chennai, which started in 1878 and is played alternatively
at
Bangalore
and. In the days when railways and aircraft were still things of the future,
golfers often traveled as much as 300 km on horse back and in bullock carts
to participate in the tournament.
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The bar at the Bangalore
Golf Club has some interesting memorabilia tracing the history of the club.
The par 71,6,650 yards, 18 hole sourse, started with browns which were later
converted to greens. Scarcity of water in the area is a major constraint,
and the course has very few water hazards.
Besides
trees and deep ditches, the major hazard on the course is the
Bangalore
crow which often picks up the ball, mistaking it for an egg. It is,
therefore, not surprising that the logo of the Bangalore Golf Club depicts a
crow with a ball in its beak.
Though the fairways at
the
Bangalore
golf Club are fairly dry and sandy, the greens are lush and well manicured.
Drives have to be well planned to avoid the rocky parts of the fairway where
the ball tends to veer off and change direction. The greens are invariably
trapped by large bunkers. A large number of flowering trees, which include
the colourful gulmohar, palm and eucalpytus are planted along the tight
fairways. The course is remarkable in that 18 holes have been deftly
packed in just 60 acres of land.
The second course at
Bangalore
has 126 acres of land near the airport for the Karnataka Golf Association.
This is one of the most modern in the country with large lush greens,
irrigated by a network of underground water sprinklers.
Peter Thompson, the
internationally known golf architect was chosen to design the course, and
nine of the 18 holes have already been laid out. The length of the existing
course is 5,900 metres at par72, the same nine holes being played
back.
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