Royal Calcutta Golf Club — Attraction in Kolkata

Royal Calcutta Golf Club affectionately known as the "Royal" is synonymous with the game of golf in this country. Founded in 1829, Royal is the oldest golf club outside the British Isles. The oldest being the Royal and Ancient, St. Andrews in Scotland, the home of golf. The golfing heritage and history of Royal makes this a truly hallowed place for the game of golf.

Originally located near the Calcutta airport, the club moved to the Maidan and finally to its present location at Tollygunge in 1910. Meant exclusively for the use of gentlemen, ladies were very reluctantly admitted to the club in 1886, when the committee voted 43 against 13 on the condition that female members be allowed to use the course only in the mornings.

The area over which the Royal Calcutta course is laid, was originally paddy fields, and the course is consequently very undulating. Successive committees built mounds and planted thousands of trees and shrubs to enhance the beauty of the property. However, Royal's conspicuous features are its strategically located water tanks and natural water hazards. Greens at Royal are quite large by modern standards and their undulations make them tricky. The par fours and long and challenging to score on where approach shots require long and medium irons to be hit which test the skills of all the golfers.

The Royal has been a very popular venue for many prestigious amateur and professional events including our very own Indian Open. Many a renowned International golfers have walked the fairways of Royal – the most significant ones being – Walter Hagen, Pamela Barton, Peter Thompson, Payne Stewart, Charles Schwartzel, Louis Oosthuizen amongst others. Our own greats – I.S. Malik, H.S. Malik, Billoo Sethi, Ashok Malik, ‘Bunny’ Lakshman Singh, Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal, Jyoti Randhawa, SSP Chawrasia and Anirban Lahiri have all been a part of the Royal golfing heritage and history!

At a meeting held on the 18th December, 1911 it was resolved that the Maidan Course and premises be closed for play until further orders in preparation for the visit of Their Majesties King George V and Queen Mary.

At the same meeting a letter was read out from Major Wigram and another from the Private Secretary to the Viceroy advising that the Club’s application for the use of the title ‘Royal’ should be forwarded to the local Government for submission to the Secretary of State. The letter should be accompanied by a short history of the Club and certain other information regarding its present strength, and so on. But it was not until the 5th of November 1912 R. Duncan, the Captain of the Club, read out a letter to his Committee from the Hon’ble C. J. Stevenson-Moore, C.V.O, I.C.S., Chief Secretary to the Government of Bengal, that he could inform the Club that His Imperial Majesty the King Emperor had been graciously-pleased to grant the title of 'Royal' to the Calcutta Golf Club in commemoration of their Majesties visit to Calcutta in the early part of the year. A letter conveying the Committee’s deep appreciation of the privilege was thereupon addressed to Stevenson-Moore with the request that a copy be forwarded to...

Welcome to the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC), where the grass is greener, the bunkers are sneakier, and the legacy is richer than a zamindar’s will. Fondly known as the "Royal", this 1829-born gentleman’s playground is the oldest golf club outside the UK, and quite possibly the only place in Kolkata where birdies, eagles, and “fore!” don’t involve actual birds or traffic chaos.

An Institution With Swag and Swing Let’s just say, if RCGC were a person, it would wear linen, quote Oscar Wilde, and still beat you at golf blindfolded. Established by the British elite, the club received the “Royal” prefix in 1911 when King George V teed off during his visit to India. That's right — when you putt here, you're basically part of royal history (minus the crown and colonial baggage).

The course itself? A lush 18-hole, par-72 affair spread across over 100 acres of meticulously maintained greenery. The fairways are as smooth as a Tagore melody, and the roughs? Let’s just say they test your moral fiber. Monsoon golf here deserves its own category in the Olympics — water hazard takes on a very literal meaning!

Did You Know? RCGC has hosted the Indian Open, multiple All India Amateur Championships, and even some celebrity-studded tournaments. A fair number of India's top golfers like Arjun Atwal have honed their swing on this very turf. The clubhouse bar serves stories older than the whisky, and both go down equally smooth.

Final Verdict – Tee Time with a Touch of Raj RCGC is more than just a golf course — it’s an etiquette-soaked, heritage-dripping escape from the madness of Kolkata traffic. Whether you're there to play, lounge, or pretend to understand handicaps while sipping lime soda, the experience is delightfully elite. So, if you're ever invited to RCGC, dust off your polo shirt, polish those manners, and remember — in Kolkata, royalty still tees off at the Royal.

“You don’t just play at RCGC —...

Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) in Kolkata, India was established in 1829 and is the oldest golf club in India and the first outside Great Britain.

RCGC has an 18-hole golf course with the following detail:[3]

Yardage: 7195/6871 Par: 72 Rating: 73.6/72.1 Mostly flat terrain, with many natural water hazards with water lilies and largish greens. The Royal Calcutta Golf Club is the oldest golf club outside the United Kingdom. The oldest club outside Scotland is the Royal Blackheath Golf Club in London, established in 1766.[2]

King George V and Queen Mary conferred the title "Royal" to the Club to commemorate their visit to Calcutta in 1911. Apart from golf, it offers tennis courts and a swimming pool. The Club also maintains a Lawn Bowls Pavilion in the Kolkata Maidan.

The golf course is a green oasis in the city, and is home to foxes, snakes and mongoose as well as many birds.

Shiv Chawrasia is a member, his father was a greenkeeper and he started out as a caddie, but he currently plays on the European Tour.

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