Plans to make RCGC best course in Asia

Kolkata, Jun 17 (UNI) Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) today celebrated a settlement of four-decade-old dispute of club's 26 acres premises with an announcement to convert India's oldest course into the best in Asia in next five years.

RCGC's captain Ashit Luthra on the eve of PGTI Players Championship said with active guidance of Chief Minsiter Buddadeb Bhattacharjee, the forty years old dispute between RCGC and Waqf Board over renting its premises was settled at Writers' Buildings' yesterday.

After leasing tenure of the century-old club expired in 1968, disputes arose over the quantum of rent between Waqf Board and the RCGC.

RCGC signed an agreement with the Waqf Board agreeing to pay Rs 1 lakh as monthly rent for next 21 years with annual hike of 12 per cent. Minister of State for Minorities Affairs Abdus Sattar, who is also Waqf Board chief, and RCGC CEO MM Singh signed the agreement.

The settlement has ushered a new life to the RCGC, which planned to hire a desinging agency for making a blueprint by next September on how to modify the course into an international standard, said Mr Luthra.

He said as soon as club committee approved the design, work for modification would start and by next five years RCGC would become the best one in Asia in next five years.

He, however, did not specify the cost of the project saying it depended on design and requirment.

The RCGC, the oldest golf club outside of the British Isles, was established in 1829. It is widely regarded as the founder of the game in the country and has staged some of the most prestigious tournaments on Indian soil, including the Indian Open and the All India Amateur Championship.

The RCGC has also been one of the nurseries of Indian golf over the decades having produced top class professionals such as former Indian Open champions Arjun Atwal and Feroz Ali Mollah, reigning Emaar MGF Indian Masters champion SSP Chowrasia, Asian Tour regular Rahil Gangjee, the legendary Basad Ali and Indrajit Bhalotia to name a few.

UNI PC ADG RAR KN2043