History of Golf in India

Outside of Great Britain, India was the first country to adopt the game of golf as a sport. It was started in early 19th century. Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) was the first golf club in India which was created in 1829. It is the oldest golf club in the world outside the Great Britain. The golf-clubs were created during the British rule in India. Later golf clubs named Royal Bombay Golf Club (1842), Bangalore Golf Club (1876) and the Shillong Golf Club (1886) were created.

Although so many golf clubs were created in the early 19th century, there was no tournament held until year 1892. The first national level championship of golf was held in 1892 with the All-India Amateur Golf Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. This is the second oldest tournament in the world after the British Open which was held in the year 1960. Until 1950 most of the golf clubs in India operated under the affiliation of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Later the Indian Golf Union (IGU) was established by a group of golfers in 1955 aiming at the promotion and management of golf in India. Indian Golf Union is affiliated to the World amateur Golf Council and has help in promoting and increasing the standard of golf in India.

The year 1982 turned out to be the turning point of the game in India. In this year the Indian Golf championship was shifted from the Royal Calcutta Golf Club to be played at three venues, Delhi, Mumbai and Calcutta. The Indian open tournament also started in 1964, which now is held annually in different parts of the Country proved to be a great development in the game of golf. Since then India has really improved in this Game. We have seen many great Indian golfers who have made their mark at the National and International events.

With the advent of technology and infrastructure, we have seen many competent golfers emerging in the country, some of the golfers have proved outstanding. Players such as Ali Sher, Arjun Atwal and Jeev Milka Singh had made our country proud in the game of Golf. Not to forget the golf clubs which have played an important part in promoting this game of Golf in India. Today, there are around 150 golf clubs in India. The world largest golf course is also located in India at Gulmarg, Kashmir. Apart from this, the world's highest 9-hole golf course is also native to India in the lap of the Kanchenjunga.