Nuwara Eliya Golf Club: a hill-station course since 1889

A resort built by the British

The beginnings of modern Nuwara Eliya were essentially British. It was uninhabited when the British came to Ceylon, and was made into a health resort and sanatorium for British officials in 1828. By the latter half of the nineteenth century, with first coffee and then tea planted on the surrounding hills, it had been transformed from a wild open plain into a busy British hamlet.

Its cool and invigorating climate, only a few hours from the tropical heat of Colombo, made it irresistible. British sports followed: golf, tennis, horse racing, cricket, croquet, hunting and trout fishing. From the early years of the twentieth century it became fashionable to spend April in Nuwara Eliya for what was known as “The Season”.

The course and its first years

The club was founded in 1889, primarily for the rest and recreation of the British planters who cultivated tea in the district. The course was constructed by a Scottish soldier of the Gordon Highlanders for the servicemen and officials posted to the hill station. It opened in 1890 with nine holes and was expanded to eighteen in 1893, and in 1892 a pavilion of five rooms was built overlooking the links.

The club history records that in 1900 the Assistant Government Agent reported the swampy ground between the Grand Hotel and Church Road being drained and laid out on one side as golf links. In 1901 the first known Rules and Constitution of the Club were printed.

Trophies, travel and a record 60

In 1902 a challenge cup, the Burdett Trophy, was presented for an annual contest between teams of Colombo and Up-country players; the first match was held in Nuwara Eliya, and Nuwara Eliya won. In September 1903 a new Freemasons’ Lodge was consecrated at the golf club pavilion, and in April 1904 The Times reported that all of Colombo was in Nuwara Eliya, with no fewer than 12 players off scratch.

Travel was changing too: the light railway known as the ‘toy train’ opened from Nanu Oya to Nuwara Eliya in 1903, and the first motor cars reached the island a year later. The brothers A. E. and W. T. Ogilvy, planters in the Uva District and known as Big and Little Og, made history between 1901 and 1903, when one or other of them won the championship at Nuwara Eliya.

Silver followed. The Sylvester Vase was first played for in 1908 and is still contested, and the Buchanan’s Cup, still played for, was presented in 1912.

That was also the year the professional C. J. Steer was brought out from Sunningdale: he established a course record at Nuwara Eliya of 60, and was responsible very largely for improving and extending the course. A water service to every green, by pipes, was installed the same year.

The course today

The course covers about 40 hectares at around 1,830 metres above sea level and measures 6,399 yards. The scorecard is in metres, but the yardage markers to the edge of the green are in yards, a quirk the club keeps. Long, narrow fairways are bordered by eucalyptus and cypress trees, and the club has more than 2,000 members.

In 1935, as discussions on the merger with the United Club began, a Ladies’ Section was formed. In 1936 the Puffin Cup was presented for team matches between Nuwara Eliya and Colombo, engraved with the words “Keep your head down — Don’t Press”. In 1982 the club held the Queen Sirikit Cup, the Asian amateur team championship for ladies, with teams of three from nine countries.

Our advice: bring a warm layer and waterproofs, play in the morning when it is usually clearest, and plan your round around a visit to the Grand Hotel, still standing close by in the town.