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Royal Malta Golf Club |
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Aldo Moro Street - Marsa Malta Email: sales@royalmaltagolfclub.com Website Phone: +356.(0)21.227019 Hotline: +356.(0)21.239302 Fax: +356.(0)21.227020
Pro: Henning Schulze Doering Club Sekretär: Vanessa Galea, Lisa Vassallo, Bernadette Cohen, Elisa Aquilina Greenkeeper: John Watson Fernmitgliedschaft:
Ausstattung Golfplatz:
Par Gelb (Herren): 68 Länge in Meter: 5.487 Slope Herren: 117 CR Herren: 67.5 Par Rot(Damen): 68 Länge in Meter Damen: 5.125 Slope Damen: 120 CR Damen: 69.9 Greenfee Werktags: 60,- EUR bis 65,- EUR Greenfee Wochenende (in EUR): 60,- EUR bis 65,- EUR caDDiix Trainingsautomat: No HCP Vorgabe Damen: -54 HCP Vorgabe Herren: -54 Softspikes-Pflicht: Yes Mitgliedschaft:
Description: CourseNo record exists as to who designed the course but it is safe to assume that this was done by senior engineers of the British Forces then stationed in Malta.A survey of the course was undertaken by the Specialist Team of the Royal Engineers in 1977 and the actual drawing can be seen in the Club offices. The basic layout has not altered much with the exception that with the passing of years, further land was acquired and some of the holes were lengthened. Part of the conditions of Malta Golf Association (MGA) and RMGC becoming affiliated to the Council of National Golf Unions (CONGU) was that the course would be slope rated within three years. The slope rating system used by CONGU in Scotland, Ireland and Wales, but not yet England, and the system used by the European Golf Association (EGA) are entirely based on the United States Golf Association (USGA) system which the MGA has permission to implement. As we only have one course both EGA and CONGU recognise that we cannot train up a team of raters, so we were allowed to use a team from Cyprus. Following the rating exercise the RMGC has been rated as follows: Men Yellow Tees Slope Rating 117 Course Rating 67.5 A golf course of standard relative playing difficulty has a slope rating of 113. There are some excellent holes; none better than the 441 yard par 4 Hole 1. A good drive is needed to avoid the trees on the right and the path on the left. Depending on the weather and the golfer's handicap the second shot is anything from a 3-wood, long or middle iron to a narrow green, guarded by a greenside bunker to catch anything but the perfect shot. The RMGC signature hole is the par 3 Hole 4, known as the Maid's Bedroom. It is not a particularly difficult hole but is certainly one of the most picturesque. The tee shot should be played over the remains of the house in which the club's maids used to live, hence the name. Bunkers guard the green on the left and right, not visible from the tee and a there is row of trees on the left. The 382 yard Hole 11 offers a wide fairway giving the golfer an excellent chance to attack the elevated two-tier green, but a decision has to be made whether to lay up or try to carry the strategically placed water hazard some 200 yards from the tee. At first sight, the last few holes seem to provide a relatively easy finish, but don't be fooled. At 142 yards, Hole 15 could be regarded as fairly straight forward, but a 40 foot wide diagonal ditch runs just in front of the green , ready to swallow up an under hit or misdirected approach shot. Hole 16, meanwhile can be played without much alarm, provided the tee shot lands on the fairway and avoids the trees on each side and the bunker which leaves a narrow passage to the green. Club HistoryThe Royal Malta Golf Club was founded in 1888 by Lieutenant-General Sir Henry D’Oyley Torrens KCB KCMG. A career soldier, Sir Henry was commissioned as 2nd Lieutenant in the 23rd Foot, Royal Welsh Fusiliers in 1849. His rise through the ranks was very rapid, reaching the rank of Colonel in 1864, Major General in 1869 and finally Lieutenant-General in 1884; when he was appointed to command British troops in South Africa. He was only 52 when he arrived in Cape Town, his exceptional ability reflected in the high rank he held at a comparatively early age. Within ten days of his arrival he had launched the game of golf in South Africa. Thus the Cape Golf Club (the forerunner of Royal Cape) came into being.
Sir Henry’s final posting was as Governor and Commander-in-Chief Malta. He arrived in Malta on the 28th September 1888 and within one month he had founded Royal Malta; with a clubhouse in St Anne’s Ditch and a 9-hole course laid out around the bastions (better known as the Hornworks). Not much of a golf course - with practically no turf and with 'greens' of puzzolana concrete, covered with sand to give the ball some stop. The so-called fairways were no more than 20 yards wide stone walls, in some cases 150 feet high, on both sides. The ball could either ricochet from one side to another or become lodged in the battlements. At least this form of golf satisfied the voracious appetite for golf of the servicemen stationed on the island. Fortunately some photographs of this unique course still survive and are reproduced on this page. Golf was also apparently played at the Mosta garrisons but no record of this 'course' exist. At the time the then Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Alfred Ernest Albert, third son of Queen Victoria , was based in Malta as Commander of the Mediterranean Fleet and became one of the founder members of the club. Hence the royal patronage from where the club gets its name. The circle of golf clubs in the Commonwealth with Royal status is an exclusive one, with just 65 members.
The club moved to its present location in 1904. With limited land available it only had 14 holes and the area had to be shared with tennis players and cricketers. The course was extended to 18 holes in the 1950s but a horse-racing track crossed seven of the holes and the horses obviously had priority! The track was annexed to the golf course in the late 1980s and the course is now fully self contained. Unfortunately the designer of the course is not known but all credit to him for producing a gem out of a relatively small parcel of land.
The first known professional to be associated with the Malta course was F. Dalton, who was appointed in 1909, but the length of his stay is not known; it seems that none of the several appointees stayed for long. Our most renowned Pro was David Llewellyn who was here between 1978 and 1981; he was a confirmed 'islander' for he had first learned his golf in Singapore, then on Hayling Island before becoming a professional. He was Henry Cotton's 'Rookie of the Year' in 1971 and his greatest feat after leaving Malta was to win, with Ian Woosnam, the World title for Wales in 1987. After one hundred years of existence the Club decided to upgrade the overall standard of the course. The investment was considered huge and the project was based on a duration of 4-5 years. The first part of the project started in early 1988 when the Club brought in consultants from the United Kingdom to re-do the 18 greens. The first project was considered a total success and boosted morale to continue further with the planned project. Unfortunately, there was a six-month suspension of this project when 70% of the golf course was completely destroyed after heavy floods in late 1988, which also caused a disruption to the festivities commemorating the Centenary of the Club. Despite this huge setback, works started again in May 1989 and have continued since. To date the course has been totally upgraded with the fairways planted with Bermuda grass, the installation of a computerised wall-to-wall watering system, the refurbishment of the sand bunkers (some 50 in total) as designed by David Llewellyn and the re-planting of the tees with TifSport grass and the greens with state of the art TifEagle grass. Coupled with significant investment in course maintenance machinery, and the engagement of an experienced green keeping staff, these improvements ensure that Royal Malta Golf Club offers a superior golfing experience in the southern Mediterranean. |
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