Delhi Golf Club

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View on to the fairway from the Oberoi Hotel

The Delhi Golf Club (DGC) is Delhi's oldest, and most prestigious golf club. It has very restrictive membership, with waiting period of over 30 years.[1] It is located on 220 acres of prime real estate, on Dr. Zakir Hussain Road, near India Gate, Humayun's Tomb, Delhi Zoo, and Lodhi Gardens, in the New Delhi Municipal Council area of New Delhi. DGC comprises 18 hole course which is part of the Asian PGA Tour, and a shorter 9 hole Course, and sprawling club house with swimming pool. [2] [3]

History

The original course, called the Lodhi Golf Club, laid out in the 1930s by the then Chief of the Horticultural Department, was much larger than the present walled area, and included parts of present Golf Links, and Kaka Nagar.[2] The Lodhi Golf Club, however, had few members, and was barely sustainable, except for a brief period during World War 2, when Delhi was awash with allied officers, who patronized the club. In 1948, the club had 80 members, and in 1951, when it became the Delhi Golf Club (DGC), its membership was no more than 120, and was barely sustainable.[2] The Club was saved from dissolution by Indian officers belong to the Indian Civil Service, including Dharma Vira, founder member of the DGC, who petitioned J N Nehru, India's Prime Minister, to lease the government land to the club at a low annual rent for 30 years. Every since the Government of India, has favored the DGC with very permissive lease terms, with low annual rents that have had no relationship to the actual value of the land. The DGC has evolved as a favorite watering hole for senior Civil Servants, Police Officers, and the business and social elite. [3] [2] The walled are of the club includes large number of interesting Mughal archeological remains, such as the famous Lal Bangla.[4]

Lal Bangla, tombs of Lal Kuwar, mother of Shah Alam II, and Begum Jaan his daughter, built c. 1780

Course

The course, comprises the championship 18-hole "Lodhi Course", which is part of the Asian PGA Tour, and the shorter 9-hole "Peacock Course". The latter came into being when the course was re-designed by Peter Thomson in 1976-77.The DGC hosts various tournaments and cups such as the Indian Open.[5]

Status of DGC

The DGC was founded as a municipal course. After 1947, it mutated into corporate entity on 24th February 1950. Since 1956, it has been registered as a company under the provisions of the Companies Act 1956. On August 30, 2013, the Information Commissioner M.L. Sharma, in response to a RTI petition, disagreed with the president of the DGC that the DGC was a company. He ruled that that DGC was a 'public authority',under section 2(h)(d)(i) of the RTI Act, as it receives "indirect financing" from the central Government, and has many senior government officers in the DGC management committee. It was thus "answerable to members of the public". [1]

Government and the DGC

Subsidy

The Delhi Golf Club, has an area of 220 acres, the market value of which is estimated between Rupees 47000 crores and 60,000 crores or about USD 8 to 10 billion at Rs 60 to a dollar. The DGC club house, including the course, is on government land. The lease for the land is periodically renewed by the government at a rate which has no relationship to the market value of the land.[1] The current annual rent that the club pays to the government is just Rs 5.82 lakh per year(approximately USD 9700 at Rs 60 to a dollar). [1] In 2012, eight years before the lease was due for renewal, the Kamal Nath, Minister of Urban Development, in the United Progressive Alliance Government, approved extension of the lease till 2050. [6] The DGC has about 4000 members, majority of whom are serving or retired members of the Indian Civil Services, judges, and politicians. It is estimated that every member receives from the government a subsidy every year of approximately Rs 1.5 crores (USD 250,000). [3] It is little wonder that there is such a clamour to gain membership of the club.[3] [1]

Delhi golf Club pool

Central government Nominees

DGC management Committee has three nominees from the Ministry of Urban Development and Poverty Alleviation (MUD & PA) as 'A' category members for a term of two years. Additionally, according to the DGC Rules, every fifth member of the committee, is a government nominee with full voting rights.[1]

Reserved membership for Civil servants, Judges, lawyers, and Politicians

The majority of DGC members are former or serving civil servants, and high officials. In addition to these permanent members Ministry of Urban Development (MUD) and Poverty Alleviation, Government of India, has according to the DGC rules, the right to nominate 150 civil servants posted in Delhi with the pay grade of Joint Secretary and above as tenure members. This is in addition to the 20 members that Chief Justice of India and Chief Justice of Delhi High Court have the right to nominate ; and 5 senior law officers that the Law Ministry nominates. [1]

Membership for "Rich-and-Famous"

In 2012, after the Government renewed the lease of DGC, the Ministry of Urban Development (MUD) recommended 18 persons for DGC membership. These included a "famous fashion designer, a junior Central minister, the son of the chief minister of a northern Congress- ruled state, a couple of high-profile lawyers, and a senior bureaucrat". The MUD in a letter to the DGC management informed that "it would nominate a total of 25 people under the 'Limited Playing Rights (LPR) regular membership category' and 15 under 'Out of Turn Regular membership category' over a period of time".[1]

Management Committee

The DGC management committee consists of President, a Course Captain, and 12 general committee members, excluding Government nominated members. Posts on the management committee are filled through election. These are usually held in September. [7]

President of the DGC

The post of President of the DGC is much sort after for its power and prestige. Senior politician, diplomats, bureaucrats and well heeled businessmen, clamor after it.[8] To get elected to the post, expense and effort is not spared. In 2012 election, held in September, the three contender were Vir Singh Juneja, retired Indian Revenue Service officer, Rajesh Dhingra, IRS (Customs and Central Excise), and Rajan Rathore, retired Indian Foreign Service.[6] The three contenders spent vast sums of money on the elections, hosting parties at some of the most expensive five star hotels.[6] One member disappointed with the unseemly clamor and expense to seek member's votes, commenting on the politicization of the election process, lamented, “The honorable members now behave like members of Parliament". In the 2012 Vir Singh Juneja, was elected President of the club. In 2013, he was again a candidate for president.[6] [7]

Captain

Kapil Channa has been appointed as the captain (CEO) for 2012-2013.

Secretary

Rajiv Hora has been the secretary (COO) of the club from February 2005. Hora is the longest serving secretary of the Delhi Golf Club since its inception.

Club Amenities

The DGC has a large Bungalow style club house with extensive lawns, gazebos, several in door and outdoor bars, restaurants, gym, sauna, pro shop, and a large parking.


Notes

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 "Information Commissioner claims elite Delhi Golf Club with 30-year waiting list leases government land worth Rs 47,000 crore for 'petty' sum". MAIL TODAY BUREAU. 2 September 2013. Retrieved 23 January 2014. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Delhi Golf Club". Delhi Golf Club. Retrieved 24 January 2014. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 Shukla, Retired IAS, Avay. "Kejriwal’s Delhi Dharna – This is not anarchy, Mr Home Minister, This is Revolution". Hill Post. Retrieved 23 January 2014. 
  4. ↑ Gallagher, Fran (May 2012). "New Dehli, India, The Delhi Golf Club, The Lodhi Course". Global Traveller. Retrieved 25 January 2014. 
  5. ↑ Gallagher, Fran (May 2012). "New Dehli, India, The Delhi Golf Club, The Lodhi Course". Global Traveller. Retrieved 25 January 2014. 
  6. ↑ 6.0 6.1 6.2 6.3 "Old-timers rue show of wealth in Delhi Golf Club articles.timesofindia.indiatimes.com/2012-09-27/delhi/34126046_1_senior-club-members-delhi-golf-club-prominent-clubselections". Times of India. Sep 27, 2012. Retrieved 25 January 2014. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 "17 candidates for 14 positions in Delhi Golf Club elections.". thefreelibrary.com. Retrieved 25 January 2014. 
  8. ↑ Srivastava,, Tushar (August 11, 2010). "Farooq to contest Delhi Golf club polls". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 25 January 2014. 

External links

Media related to Delhi Golf Club at Wikimedia Commons

Golf clubs and courses in India India

Coordinates: 28°35′54″N 77°14′08″E / 28.598445°N 77.235646°E / 28.598445; 77.235646

Civil Services of India Government of India

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