Hong Kong Golf in the 1960s - Part One

44 years ago, British writer George Houghton travelled across Asia and played on 50 courses around the region, including the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club. This extract, which focuses exclusively on Fanling, is taken from chapter six of Houghton's resulting book, Golf Addict Goes East (Country Life, 1967).

Our visit to Fanling terminated, correctly, with good talk in the clubhouse. This is a delightful place. Glimpsed through the trees, it could well be a plantation mansion in one of the deep southern states of America. The building is white, terraced, colonnaded, and contains more golf trophies than I can remember having seen in any other club. In addition to novelties like a ‘Best Average Cup’—which a humorist donated for the most consistently good scorer in the hottest month of the year—there is a ‘Nil Desperandum’ trophy, and more than a dozen ‘Farewell’ cups, presented by members on departure, in gratitude for happy times. The 50th birthday year was 1939 and on that occasion so many cups were donated that, allowing for two competitions each week, the year is not long enough!
I have briefly touched on the exciting history of the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club and now I find among my notes an extraordinary item. It appears that King George V agreed to be patron of the club in 1911. This royal favour continued until 1915 then, for some inexplicable reason, the patronage lapsed. Some amends were made in 1924 when H.R.H. Prince George, the Duke of Kent, became an Honorary Member.
For a weekend game of golf at Fanling the drill is to book or telephone for a time a week ahead. The draw is made, and starting times on the Old and New courses are published on Tuesday in the South China Morning Post. Golfers consult the newspaper to find out when they are off. This has become an accepted procedure and the couple of columns of starting times in a large-scale national newspaper is surely unique in golf.
Despite congestion, golf costs at Fanling are unusually low. Clubhouse accommodation is available at only 10s. a night; 6s for lunch; 7s. 6d. for an extremely good dinner.
Along with Peter Thomson, Dai Rees and other privileged people, I was enrolled as a ‘Fanlingerer’, an excellent charitable institution pledged to help the war blinded. You get a tie, and a booklet explaining that ‘The Fanlingerer is a good-tempered, friendly animal, originally found in large numbers singing happy jingles in the vicinity of drink holes...

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