Battling through the rough
The Durban Golf Club celebrates its 85th anniversary this year. FEROZ SHAIK traced the nonracial group’s history
IT started in July 1928 when the Durban Indian Golf Club played at a nine-hole course at the Mecca of nonracial sport in South Africa, Curries Fountain.
The course had been opened a month earlier by advocate Albert Christopher under the auspices of the Durban Indian Sports Ground Association, which also catered for soccer, cricket and tennis.
TS Parbhoo was the first president of the club, which had 57 members. They paid enrolment fees of two shillings and a sixpence and a monthly subscription fee of one shilling.
The 2012-13 president of what, after several incarnations and relocations, is now the Durban Golf Club, Dr Ponnusamy Rajaruthnam, said golf was mainly played on Sundays because that was the day the other codes “hardly used the fields”.
By the time the lease at Curries expired in 1950, the Durban Indian Sports Ground Association had developed six soccer fields, four cricket pitches, three tennis courts, a nine-hole golf course, a refreshments room and a clock tower.
Four years later, however, the land was reallocated for educational purposes, which meant that the Durban Golf Club had to look for new premises.
“Our new home then became the Springfield Golf Course, which was opened on December 16 1961. The then Durban Corporation agreed to level the land, turf and drain the grounds only — the club had to be maintained by its members.”
The opening of the new course was celebrated by a four-ball match and legendary golfer Papwa Sewgolum was the first to tee off. Sewgolum was the first black person to win a professional tournament in South Africa — he beat Gary Player — and won the Dutch Open three times before his career was destroyed by the apartheid authorities.
The course consisted of nine holes, but there was no clubhouse and players and officials had to conduct their affairs from their vehicles.
Despite broken tractors, burst water mains, weeds, collapsing mowers and blunt greens cutters, the players turned up week after week for their rounds.
Eight years later, a temporary clubhouse was officially opened — again by Sewgolum.
In April 1976, however, the course was expropriated by the South African Railways. No compensation was paid and the club was ordered to vacate the premises urgently, before its new course was ready.
“The club then opted to use the Windsor Park Golf Course, knowing full well that blacks were not allowed to play there,” said Rajaruthnam. “The then Natal provincial administration in January 1981 changed its laws, after many representations, to allow all members of the public to play there.
“We used that facility until July 1982 when we moved to Linear Park, our current location in Siripat Road.”
The course that the Durban Golf Club calls home originally consisted of nine holes with prefab facilities and a halfway house. It had been designed by Bob Grimsdell and Bill Kerr — and was named in honour of Sewgolum.
Nine more holes were added in 1991, and the clubhouse was opened in September 1993.
The club has played host to activists, businessmen and professionals during its life.
Former political activist Judge Thumba Pillay, now 77, served as club president in 1985, ’86 and ’88.
The former high court judge said: “I got involved in 1976 when George Singh invited me to join. We often made the point that the Durban Golf Club was the first truly nonracial golf club in South Africa.
“We are proud of that distinction, and we believe it has been largely our efforts and the unflagging resolve to fight racism at all levels that has led to formerly racially exclusive clubs opening their doors to people of colour. There was also great camaraderie among the members,” said Pillay.
At 70, James Naidoo is the oldest active member of the club. “I joined the club 43 years ago after learning the game as a lighty at Beachwood,” said Naidoo.
“Back in the day, we got to Beachwood between 3am and 4am because we had to get out by 9am.
“Some of my highlights include playing with the likes of Papwa, Lambie Rasool and Vincent Tshabalala.”
Shanitha Hariparsad is one of the leading woman golfers at the club.
“I joined in 2009 when I decided to give it a shot after accompanying my husband, Umesh, to the driving range,” she said. “I never thought I’d play the game, but I got hooked after the first swing. Today I play off a 21 handicap and compete with some of the men in various club competitions,” she said.
Trafford Mottram was the only white golfer who joined the club in the depths of apartheid.
“I joined in 1974 when they were at the old Springfield Course,” he said. “At the time, the other golf clubs were too expensive to join. I was introduced to the club by Suren Patel from Kenfield Motors, for whom I was working as a diesel mechanic at the time.
“After growing up on a farm in Pretoria, I did my army training in places like Angola and South West Africa and therefore was exposed to the plight of those that were fighting for equality. I was therefore very comfortable playing at the Durban Golf Club.”
Mottram, who is now 68, is also proud of the fact that he is an honorary life member of the club.
Last weekend, the club held its 85th anniversary tournament at the Papwa Sewgolum Golf Course — and followed it up with a gala dinner.
The toast, of course, was to another 85 years.