Club History

On 4th January 1922 employees of the Kenya Uganda Railway, as the Railways was called then, convened a meeting at the Railway Institute.

During the meeting a proposal by Mr. R W D Crockhart and seconded by Mr. W Welch for the formation or Railway Golf Club was approved .

A temporary committee was appointed to draw up the rules and persue the issue in detail. Mr. B M Carter the Chief Storekeeper of Uganda Railway as it was then called was appointed Chairman and Mr. P Macfarlane, Hon. Secretary With commendable expedition the committee held a meeting the same day and estimated that a sum of £40 was required to start the course.

However when the General Manager of Uganda Railway was asked to grant this amount from Railway funds he turned down the request.

Despite this setback another meeting was held on 13th January 1922 and elected the following officials for one year term:

President.......................... Hon.S.Cooper The General Manager Uganda Railways Vice-President .................. Sir Geoffrey Rhodes DSO

Captain - B.M. Carter

Vice- Captain - W.F.D Allison

Hon.Secretary - P. Macfarlane

Hon. Treasurer - W.Welch.

Committee Members: F.W Wakeford

B. Thornton

J.M.Gregson

Railway, circa 1900.

Engine stands on site of present Club House.

Committee worked tirelessly and their efforts paid dividends as in March 1922 a nine-hole course with par 38 was opened by the General Managerís wife, Mrs Couper Shortly after the opening of the course torrential rains lasting three months forced the temporary closure. In order to avoid discouraging the membership of the club the Committee recommended the suspension of subscription fees for three months.

The decision was endorsed by the first Annual General Meeting(AGM) held on 28 the February 1923 and there was therefore no revenue for a whole quarter after year.Despite the predicament the Treasurer reported a balance of £15 after the first year of existence which was considered a very healthy,situation.]

In 1924, membership which was restricted to Railway Members of Staff only was opened to other members of the public. The Club also voted to become a member of the The Golf Union of East Africa the same year of 1924 the new General Manager,Mr ( later Sir ) C.L.N Felling offered a silver cup to the club which arrived in October 1925 and was named Felling Cup. This became the Club Championship Trophy and still remains the same today. Felling Cup is therefore the oldest Cup and present and future Captains of the Club should always maintain this prestigious trophy The first native recipient of the prestigious trophy was Osman Amber in 1967 followed by Bob Marjan for two years in a row. At the A annual Meeting of 1924 it was proposed,for the first time,and agreed,that members other than railway staff should be allowed to join the club. That the club was growing up and taking prominence in golf in East Africa was evidenced by the fact that at a meeting held on 28th August 1928 the Club minutes recorded that it had been asked to nominate a member to to the Committee of the Golf Union of East Africa and that out of the three names submitted to the committee the name of Mr Marshall was decided on, by a simple expedience of drag from a hat. At the same meeting it was resolved that the Club should become a member of the Golf Union of East Africa.

By November 1924 it became evident that a clubhouse was necessary. The proposal was carried in the AGM of March 1925 when £ 100 was set aside for the purpose and the Railways rapidly went ahead with the construction using second hand materials from the central workshop. The basic structure of the original Club House remains the same today with reasonable renovations except that the replacement of the Bicycle park with a Car Park.Records show that in November 1924 the membership of the club stood at 55 men and 21 ladies Africa. The same year was very eventful. On the 22nd of May, the club was very honoured and received an invitation to play in the Nairobi Golf Club Easter Championships Ever since 1925 the Club Has taken part annually in the Easter Tournament. as it is now called ever since(and it is of interest if not a source of pride to note that it held the wooden spoon until 1934 The club blossomed in the role of giant killers for while never actually winning the competition for many years,it has defeated many redoubtable opponents including the eventual winners in their year of victory.)It is recorded that for a few years the the Club progressed very quietly ,so much that it is minuted in a meeting held in September 1929 that ì Owing an unfortunate misunderstanding the Clubs Post Office Box has not been cleared for several months and the secretary explained ì there were several letters which were naturally much overdue repliesîAt the next meeting there was change of Secretary. However, in the same year the then Committee considered possible extension of the club grounds.It was not however until 1934 this became more than a proposition and the course was enlarged from a nine to an eighteen hole championship course. Ironically, this is probably one of the few known Golf Courses in Africa which constructed golf courses before the club house. Members of KRGC have tended to have more affection for their golf course than the club house. This was demonstrated many years later in 1990 after elaborate efforts to collect funds for the construction of a new club house whose construction plans enrich their archives today. members changed their minds and shelved the plan in preference for a modern irrigation project for theó- entire course.

At the Annual General Meeting held on 21st February 1930 the Club elected its first three Life Members in the names of R D W Crockhart,P Macfarlane and S N Faulkner. In 1931 we find the Club making arrangements to engage a Goan Stewart and a membership having rising to 162. 1932 saw the Open Mixed Foursome Competition inaugurated by the Club endorsed by K.G U.and played over the Railway Golf course. A separate account of this open competition which was to be played for the next 16 years with only one interruption in 1938, over the railway course is recorded elsewhere in this brochure 1932 also saw preliminary work done in the laying out of four additional holes and plans for the extension of the course to 18 holes.

The irrigation project is no doubt the most ambitious post-independence project undertaken by the club. This particular project stands out as a unique contribution of the ever enthusiastic golfer in restoring the lost glory of the city in the sun.

In 1934 the course was extended to an eighteen hole championship course. So much work was put on the improvement of the course during 1935 that it was selected to host the 1936 Menís Open Championships when R.W Hooper beat R..D England in the final.

A remarkable struggle in one of the most guerrillas competitions in the history of the club took place and deserves a special mention. During the Rhodes Cup one of the Clubs main competitions between Mr.J D Lindeman and Mr P Macfarlane.The competition was won by L Lindeman after a battle lasting 144 holes and an estimated walk of 40 miles.The conditions of competition as was played then were 72 holes against bogey.After a tie for the first place there was a replay over 36 holes which resulting in a further tie ,lead to a further replay over another 36 holes This time Lindeman won on the last brown The Club was now going from strength to strength colminating in KGU choosing the course as the venue for the Ladiesí Open Championship in 1933.

The President of the Club, Sir G. D Rhodes officially opened the course as one of 18 holes in February 1934.The occasion was marked by a match against K G S and by an official lunch at which the K G U ,K G S ,and the local Golf Cubs were fully represented.At the invitation of the President of the Club,after having declared the course open ,the Captain of the Club Mr. C H Bloomfield,drove the ball on from No.1 tee.It is recorded in the minutes of the Annual Meeting of that year that ,having regard to the fact that this ceremony took place after lunch,the drive was ë remarkableí and well worthy of the function it commemorated.

1935 was the year of consolidation when the status of the course visibly improved a result of the hard work put out by messrs. Macfarlane,Archibald and Martin .This resulted in KGU honouring the Club by choosing the course as the venue for the 1936 Kenya Amateur Championship.This was unfortunately the first and only time the Menís Kenya Amateur Championship was played at Railway for it was not long before the 18 holes had to be abandoned The winner was R W Hooper who beat R D England in a good final.

In 1937 the ladies became affiliated to the Kenya Ladies Golf Union( a previous request to be allowed to join had been turned down by the Menís Committee ìin view of the low standard of the lady members 1937-1938 saw a grave turn in the club fortunes when the new Aerodrome Road was constructed cutting across the Course. This was followed by the re-alignment of the Nairobi- Nakuru Railway line from Ainsworth Bridge near the current National Museums to Fort Smith in Kabete or ìNdubuiniî to follow the Kibera route which cuts through the course into two.. As a result of the building of the Aerodrome Road and the consequential alterations,the Open Mixed Foursome had to be cancelled in 1938.The Foursomes were resumed in 1939 although in that year came the war. With the war the Club made special provision for the members of H M Forces to play over the course an waived the subscriptions of members on active service. 1940 saw a graver turn in the events with the advent of Italy as an enemy. These difficult conditions were to continue during the years 1941, 1942 and 1943. This was a period when little was done to the course other than to reduce it in size-and also when a shortage of golf balls seriously affected play. The keenness of Members, however, sustained the Club through this lean period and with the end of the war in 1945 the Club was still much alive although a shadow of complete extinction lay over it. Plans for the re-alignment of the railway between Nairobi and Nakuru, involving the cutting of route right through the Railway golf course, had been in existence since 1940. Now with the end of the war this project became a live one. The possibility of alternative sites for the course had been examined but all had had to be rejected. The Royal Nairobi and Muthaiga Clubs were sympathetic and promised help in absorbing our members into their clubs but we wanted to stay where we were. The Captain, Mr. . P. G. Mackay, in presenting his report to the annual Meeting in 1945, put the position as follows: ìThere is no practical alternative site for a course for us in or around Nairobi. We must be here or, I fear, nowhere. No doubt if the worst comes some Members who are keen on golf could join and play at other clubs but others would not. Nor would another Club satisfy many of us. This Club, with its tradition and its character, with its identity built on real and also on intangible things, is the Club we wantî. 1946 saw Miss Margaret Crockhart, one of the Club's very own and most respected Lady Members, and the daughter of the man who proposed the founding of the Club, win the Open Mixed Foursomes with her partner for the third time running. This was a feat of which all Members were very proud.

Throughout 1947 and 1948 alterations to the course continued. From 18 holes it had become 14; from 14 it became 12; now the 12 holes became 9 and further encroachments by both rail and road the 9 holes became an even shorter and more compressed 9 holes. But now came a turn in the timed and a reward to those whose enthusiasm had supported the Club and carried it throughout hese years. It had always been realised that, situated as it was in the very centre of the town and near to an expanding railway, the course was vulnerable to all manner of seemingly justifiable depredations .But in 1948 the Thornton White Report on Nairobi Town Planning recommended that the course be left as an open space, or lung, between the railway lay-out and the residential area. We had been restricted and cut about but now we had just sufficient space to live and plans were rapidly formulated for a new lay-out to make the best use of every inch of the space left to us. With the future secured the Club seemed to take a new lease of life and in lose succession won the Nairobi District Foursomes at Muthaiga and the Windsor Cup at Kiambu; its Railway members won the Varth Cup, while one of its members (Mr. A. Westcob) won the South African Trophy. Since then there have been successes in other completions and it is to be hoped that many more will follow. If enthusiasm, even to some extent, could supplant skill at golf they certainly would.

It was with real regret, however, that the decision had to be taken in 1948 that the Open Mixed Foursomes could not be held over the railway course any longer. The event had become too popular and the railway course too short. Never the less the ever die-hard Members of the Club re-claimed back their prestigious tournament many years later ,in 1960.

The years that followed have been ones of consolidation and progress. A satisfactory new nine holes course has been laid out (S.S.S. 70) andwork has gone ahead with providing grass tees, top dressing the fairways, planting trees and hedges and generally trying to make the course one of the best nine holes in the country.

It will be a long and uphill struggle because the soil is poor and it has not yet been possible to provide an adequate supply of water. It is hoped, however, that one by one these and other deficiencies will be remedied and so long as the enthusiasm and spirit of the members, both men and ladies, remains as at present, there is little to fear for the future of the Club.

There is no course record, but prior to the latest alterations, when the S.S.S. was 72, the record was held by Mr. G.P.G. Mackay with 75. Throughout the State of Emergency the Club was very uneventful but continued to improve in terms of membership and the course it self. In1973 the State enacted a new law restricting the tittle of ìPresident ì to the political Head of State and all clubs including Golf clubs reverted to the use of Chairman to refer to the head of the Management Committee or Board of Directors of Sporting Clubs.

It is noted however sadly that Club records appear to have been misplaced particularly the minutes of the Management Committee which are very vital in preserving the history of the Club.

Native Africans did not take up Golf until the mid-sixties when a handful of enthusiastic cuddies from Kibera started challenging the White Golfers. The pioneers were led by Bob Marjan,Osman Amber, Ahmed Ramadhan and,Ndonga . The others that joined the Club later were News caster Simeon Dsanjo,David Mwararia and many others.

Records show that the club administration was dominated by the colonial administrators,until 1980 when David Mwiraria, now a member of Parliament took over the Chairmanship. The only other Non-African Chairman to serve as Chairman thereafter was J.P OíConnor in 1982 and 1983.

As local Africans took over the Management of the Club, they set on removing some of the undesirable elements.

It will be recalled that the Club House had a section where Africans were not allowed . The entry to this particular section had a glaring notice reading, ìAFRICANS WOMEN AND DOGS NOT ALLOWEDí This was no doubt the last colonial relics to be removed from the club and the present counter reconstructed, thanks to the ever active Mboce Waithaka and his team of enthusiastic golfer who supervised the reconstruction of the bar as it is today.

The Club House had had very little external alterations but plans are underway to cater for the increased number of membersip which stands at about 450.The Club has contemplated building a new Club House but the plans have been shelved or scrapped altogether at the last minute to make room for more urgent needs as directed by the membership. It is recorded that the club embarked on an ambitious project of building a new club house and started collecting funds way back in 1986 in the form of levies, auctions and harambee donations. By 1989 the fund was well in excess of 5,000,000 Kenya shillings. In 1990 the Committee of the day contracted an architect who came up with a grand plan for a Club House with a swimming pool, squash couts etc. The cost of the Club House together with the re-surfacing of the car park alone was estimated at 11 million Kenya shillings This project was never to be as the Management of the day chaired by Sam Kamau opted for the improvement of the Golf Course instead.

The project was never to be as the Management Committee of the day led by Mr.S K Kamau opted for the improvement of the course instead,a decision members of the Club appreciated and continue to do so to this very day.

Having obtained the necessary approval through a Special General Meeting, the project was commissioned.. Between 1992 and 1993 the Project which involved the improvement of the water resources, the levelling of the surface and theimprovement of the soil texture of the Course was undertaken.

A borehole under the able supervision of Gabriel Wanderi was sank and waterstract at 280 feet With assistance of the Railway Corporation four petroleum reservoir tanks were installed and a power house constructed. Next came the installation fo a modern irrigation system under the able supervision and Chairmanshipof of Dr. Washington Maina Wokabi.

With the assistance of John Kariuki of Karuri Civil Engineers who donated red soil from one of their construction sites at Runda most of the fairways were incorporated with red soil.

Prior to the introduction of the red soil it will be recalled that loosing balls on the numerous crucks on the course during the dry season was a common phenomenon hence the nickname,î CONCRETE COURSEî.

The balls later would pop up during the rainy season to the amusement of golfers and their caddies as well.

Under the supervision of the Greenkeeper of the Day Mr. John Muya with the help of the Civil Engineet from Kenya Railway Corporation who supplied the bulldozers the entire surface of the Golf Course was re-surfaced.

The drainage problems which ensured that the ìConcrete Courseî was usually the first Golf Course in Nairobi to close during rainy seasons, were finally delt with and for several years now, it is very unusual to find the Railway Course closed on account of rain. Even the the much

dreaded ìEl Nino phenomena which lasted several months saw the course closed for only a few days. The taft grass which made the roughs almost impossible to play from is now a thing of the past as a relsult of the exercise.

The other exercise that took place at the same time was the replacement of the gum trees with more manageable trees.The ëBlue Gumí trees as they are commonly known, in Kenya were introduced by the colonialists in order to drain marshy places, on account ot their ability to retain

excessive water.This was no longer necessary and they had to be replaced with newer and attractive species. Under the supervision of Muthoni Muthiga and Dr. Wokabi the entire Golf was decorated with attractive flower plants,which may today seem natural to those who did not know the status of the provious course.

Besides the drainage improvement the biggest nightmare to the Golfer in the form of an unfriendly cliff commonly referred to as Kerio Valley .The valley situated between greens No. 4 and 13 was redone to the delite of the majority golfers who have suffered immensely whenever they missed the number 4 Green.

To supplement the efforts of the Club in turning the Course into a Green Belt the Ladyies Section donated the surplus of their Captains Kitty which facilitated the planting of the beautiful trees between the 8th and 17th Tees. The tree planting exercise is still going on today and will continue for some time.

The ambition of the Club at the moment according to the Chairman Mr.B.S. Kenth is to improve the Club House and resurface the entry and the carpark. Already the extention of the changing rooms has commenced.

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