Victoria Country Club shares a proud history with Pietermaritzburg
Iqbal Khan
PIETERMARITZBURG has proud history of golf courses but the Victoria Country Club now stands out as one of the best in the city at the moment.
There’s reason for it being ahead of the pack – their resident Golf director and PGA professional is a go-getter who looks for improvements all the time.
Garath Arnold, 31, completed his PGA professional course in 2011 while still at Victoria Country Club.
“I’ve enjoyed every moment of it here. I served my apprenticeship here and today I’m at the top of the pile. I love this job as it gives me the opportunity to pursue my childhood dream,” Arnold said.
Arnold went to St Charles and then to Varsity College where he enrolled for a commerce course before switching to become a golf coach.
“I heard of the golf academy there and decided to change courses and here I do have outstanding facilities here and by the end of the year, we would have our driving range up and running as well.”
His dream is to have a Sunshine Tour event at Victoria Country Club and he believes with the excellent relationship the club has with their sponsors it could be a possibility in the near future.
“We have all our Wednesday and Saturday competitions sponsored by local business and it draws over 100 plus members each week. The support is great from the members and the sponsors get a good response as well. Hence, we believe we could attract sponsors for a major event – that’s our dream.”
Victoria Country Club has hosted two big events in the recent years – the World Amateur Championship and the South African Mid-Amateur Championships – and were highly successful.
“We’ve had great television exposure and this has attracted many visitors to our course. The visitors’ rounds have increased as we get groups from different parts of the province and up-country visitors as well,” Arnold said.
Victoria Country Club was established through the amalgamation of the Victoria Club and the Maritzburg Country Club in 1997. While each of these establishments had their own proud history, much of their membership was shared.
The inaugural meeting of the Victoria Club was held on June 16, 1859 and 46 sportsminded men were enrolled as foundation members.
The clubhouse was opened in October of the same year. Judge Lushington Phillips was instrumental in the formation of the club and he was the first honorary secretary. For some years, there were no permanent chairmen; the honorary secretary called meetings and committee members took turns in chairing these.
This changed in 1876 when a full-time secretary was employed and thereafter the chairman was elected annually. Initially, premises were rented in Church Street but after several moves, a club was built in Longmarket Street where it remained for 100 years until the merger with Maritzburg Country Club in 1997. The merged club was domiciled at the premises of the Maritzburg Country Club.
Maritzburg Country Club was founded by golf playing members of the Victoria Country Club and the first chairman, Duncan M Cumming, who had been a member of the committee of that club. For 20 years there were a number of chairmen and committee members who were common to the two clubs, although no one was chairman of both clubs at the same time.
As MCC grew in numbers so the influence of the Victoria Club declined. But there were always large numbers of dual members.
A golf course had been in existence for some years before a committee was formed in 1934 and Bob Grimsdell the foremost course architect, was commissioned to develop the course layout. In the year 194045 the club was virtually dormant and its running expenses were met by Dr Conrad Akerman and James Craib.
Activity at the club resumed after the war and several changes were made to the golf course, particularly after the construction of the N3 national highway.
The merged club was named as the Victoria Country Club in 1997 and it has continued to operate on the premises of the previous Maritzburg Country club.
In 2004 the club concluded an agreement for a residential development adjoining the club’s property which has been named the Victoria Country Club Estate.
In 2008 the golf course underwent major changes as part of its integration with the residential estate.
The Golf Course is a par 71 course measuring 6156m. The course was reopened after an upgrade in April 2007, having been remodelled by Golf Data, one of South Africa’s leading golf course design and construction companies.
The upgrade included the total reshaping and reconstruction, to USGA specification, of all the greens which were planted with Bent grass Penn A1. Extensive storage dams were added creating, impressive and attractive waterholes. A fully automated irrigation system was installed.
The course is now rated in the top10 in KZN and in the Top 50 in South Africa and is able to offer a world-class golfing experience all year round.