Karachi Golf Club

Karachi Golf Club started as an affiliate of Sindh Club in 1888 and was registered as an independent Club in 1891 on pattern of Bombay Golf Club. The first Club house resembled a wooden shack and was located where the Plaza Hotel stands today on E. I. Lines and a lane in vicinity bears the name of Golf Road. During the post partition period there were large number of refugees who were camped in the Golf Course grounds on men’s links near Cantonment, Railway Station; then there was a compulsion from the Government to make a School, a wireless station and Jinnah hospital in the area so this was a caution signal for the club to plan ahead and move the Course elsewhere. As a consequence the Golf Course had to be relocated and therefore in 1953 an alternate land measuring 440 acres around a neglected RAF 9 Hole Course on Drigh Road Near Karsaz was leased from Ministry of Defence; Col. Iskandar Mirza Secretary Defence sanctioned the lease. On this land a 6322 yards, Par-71, an 18 hole sandy Course was developed and inaugurated by Patron-in-Chief of Pakistan Golf Union, Field Marshal M. Ayub Khan in 1959. This new location was ranked as a classic desert Course with barren and sandy fairways and chocolate Greens. The whole area was doted with numerous cactus and akasia (keekar) trees, and the Course had undulations, water hazards, reeds and marshy areas with typical flora / fauna, and because of these unique features the Course was rated amongst the 100 interesting Golf Courses in the world.in 1985–86 earnest efforts were made to Green the Course; By 1988, nine holes were turfed and adorned with thousands of trees. The 9 holes were inaugurated by President of Pakistan General M. Zia-Ul-Haq. In 1991 a reputed Golf Course architect Peter Heradine was invited to design 18 holes Championship Course. The 18 holes Green course was completed in 1992 and by 1993 another 9 holes were commissioned. The Golf Courses and its affiliated facilities are now located on 217 acres and the three Courses are now known as Blue, Yellow and Red. The official SSS of the Courses are; Red & Blue Par 72, SSS 74; Red & Yellow Par 72, SSS 73; Blue & Yellow Par 72, SSS 73.To meet Club’s irrigation requirement, water was initially pumped through 9 km long 12” RCC pipeline from Mahmoodabad to Karachi Golf Club. In 1994 this system was discontinued and effluent water from adjoining colonies was collected; but with passage of time the volume of water declined and moreover the water was untreated, therefore to cope up with course irrigation of about 0.10 million Gallons of water per day, construction of a water treatment plant was undertaken near Yellow-14 fairway. Since the completion in 2005, the plant currently has a storage capacity of 5.5. Million Gallons of waterThe first President of the Karachi Golf Club was a British civil servant Mr. H. E. M. James (1894), whereas the last British President of the Karachi Golf Club was Mr. M. J. Condon (1957-59). The Chief of the Naval Staff is the Patron-in-Chief of the Club, whereas the serving Commander Karachi is the President of the Karachi Golf Club; Vice President is elected annually.