Gulmarg Golf Club Explained

Gulmarg Golf Club, J&K
Coordinates:34.055°N 74.3917°W
Location:Gulmarg, Baramulla district, Jammu and Kashmir, India
Establishment:1890
Type:Public
Owner:JKTDC
Operator:JKTDC
Holes:18
Designer1:Colonel Neville Chamberlain
Par1:72

The Gulmarg Golf Club is a public golf course in a meadow at Gulmarg in Baramulla district, Jammu and Kashmir, India. It lies 35 km from Baramulla city. The golf course, at an elevation of 2650m (8,690feet) above sea level, is the second highest green golf course in the world.[1] It lies 52km (32miles) from Srinagar in the west. The golf course gets covered in by a thick layer of snow during the winter. It is open from April to November.[2]

History

Gulmarg, which means the meadow of flowers, is a hill station surrounded by pine and fir. The Gulmarg Golf Course with a 6-hole course was built within a meadow by Colonel Neville Chamberlain in 1890 at Gulmarg, a hill station near Srinagar. In 1922 the first Golf championship was played at the course with the introduction of Nedou's Cup in 1929. The course was later redesigned and turned into the Gulmarg Golf Club by Peter Thomson in 1970. It was developed in a links-style in accordance with its surrounding natural landscape and made more challenging by relocation of the greens. The golf course hosted the Northern India Cup regularly until 1989, when it was shifted to Delhi.[3] In 2011, the golf course was redesigned by Ranjit Nanda a Delhi-based golf-architect. From December to March, the golf course becomes a winter sports center for skiing and snowboarding.[4] [2] [5]

Legacy

The Gulmarg Golf Club, at an elevation of 2650m (8,690feet) above sea level, is the second highest green golf course in the world.[6] It has 16 different species of wildflowers along with the creeping bent on the greens. The 18-hole golf course features the country's longest hole (the 8th, a 610-yard par 5). At, the Gulmarg Golf Course is the longest golf course in India.[2] [7] [3]

See also

Notes and References

  1. Book: Rice, Jonathan. Curiosities of golf. 1995. London : Pavilion. Internet Archive. 978-1-85793-671-1.
  2. Web site: the-south-asian Life & Times. 2020-10-23. www.the-south-asian.com.
  3. Book: Lovell-Hoare. Max. Kashmir: Jammu. Kashmir Valley. Ladakh. Zanskar. Lovell-Hoare. Sophie. 2014-07-01. Bradt Travel Guides. 978-1-84162-396-2. en.
  4. Web site: Golfing in Kashmir. 2020-10-23. www.jktdc.co.in.
  5. Book: Khanna, A. C.. Hill Resorts of India and Nepal: A Traveller's Guide. 1971. Nest & Wings (India). en.
  6. Book: Stacey, Allan. Visiting Kashmir. 1988. New York : Hippocrene Books. Internet Archive. 978-0-87052-568-1.
  7. Web site: Gulmarg Golf Club. 2020-10-23. jktourism.jk.gov.in.