Club information | |
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Coordinates | 6°54′16.36″N 79°52′56.2″E / 6.9045444°N 79.882278°ECoordinates: 6°54′16.36″N 79°52′56.2″E / 6.9045444°N 79.882278°E |
Location | 223, Model Farm Road, Colombo 08, Sri Lanka. |
Established | 1896 |
Website | Official Website |
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The Royal Colombo Golf Club is the oldest golf club in Sri Lanka. Established in 1880, it is located in the capital city of Colombo at The Ridgeway Links also known as the Anderson Golf Course. It is home to the Sri Lanka Golf Union, the governing body of Golf in Sri Lanka and maintains links with the Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews in Scotland.
Established March 13, 1880 nine gentlemen met at the Colombo Club and held the first General Meeting of the Colombo Golf Club. The first Chairman and Captain was W Law and the Committee consisted of W Somerville, F A Fairlie and R Webster. The competitive Trophy of the club dates backs to 1887 and in 1888 the Calcutta Golf Club presented a silver Medal to the Club, thus The Calcutta Medal is a permanent Challenge Medal to this day.
Earlier the club was maintained at Galle Face Green till 1896, in June that year the club was informed by the Colonial Secretary that the Governor of Ceylon would give a part of the Model Farm in Borella. The land and funds for the Model Farm was given by Sir Charles Henry de Soysa, however the project was less than successful and most of the land was used for the formation of the golf links. It was open by Governor Joseph West Ridgeway, after whom the Ridgeway Links were named after.
During World War II the club house and the golf links were used by the Royal Navy code breakers of the Far East Combined Bureau and was known as HMS Anderson.