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76-526: The Heung Yee Kuk , officially the Heung Yee Kuk N.T. , is a statutory advisory body representing establishment interests in the New Territories , Hong Kong . The council is a powerful organisation comprising heads of rural committees which represent villages and market towns. From 1980 to 2015, it was chaired by Lau Wong-fat , a billionaire landowner and heavyweight political figure in

152-640: A concern to the Hong Kong Government . There was a need to expand the colony to accommodate its growing population. The Qing Dynasty 's defeat in the First Sino-Japanese War had shown that it was incapable of defending itself. Victoria City and Victoria Harbour were vulnerable to any hostile forces launching attacks from the hills of Kowloon. Alarmed by the encroachment of other European powers in China, Britain also feared for

228-541: A firm became entitled, after approval by the club, to nominate an employee to membership. The Nominee Memberships were transferable, again subject to the club's approval, on payment of a commission to the club. At the AGM in 1980, it was decided to issue 30 Nominee Memberships to meet the expense of a redevelopment scheme to include a swimming pool and squash courts in Deep Water Bay . The new building at Deep Water Bay

304-705: A foothold for it in the Colony. Although Captain Rumsey and Stewart had clubs and balls and had in fact been driving these balls within the race track at Happy Valley before 1889, the opinion of the Meeting was that attempts should be made to acquire land then in possession of the military in Kowloon. Rumsey had been elected captain of the new club and had secured the consent of the Governor – Sir William Des Voeux – to accept

380-522: A great deal of trouble was constantly experienced from worms which fed upon the young fresh roots and didn't give the Green keepers a chance. The course was almost devoid all that there was a great deal of room for improving the original layout. The Committee appointed Mr. L.S. Greenhill to work out with Mr. Kerr (who had been general manager of the club since 1914 and resided in the Orme Bungalow) on

456-520: A large number of fox holes had been built. The clubhouse was requisitioned by the British Army after the war. The rehabilitation was as expensive as had been forecast. The Club not only spent all its account balances but had to arrange for an overdraft which at one time was over $ 400,000. (The price of daily newspaper in Hong Kong was 20 cents in 1947–48.) To reduce this liability a debenture issue

532-457: A lot of water and have been called 'toxic green', meaning a lot of agrochemicals are used for their upkeep." In July 2023, after development chief Bernadette Linn confirmed the government planned to move forward with the plan to build public housing, the Golf Club applied for UNESCO recognition in order to block the government's plan. In addition, the Golf Club also filed a judicial review to

608-539: A new lay out and new bunkering. In 1919, a caddies union was discovered called "Po Tai Ngoi Yue" – Golf Caddies Club – which turned out to be a semi-triad society. The first caddie strike took place in April 1922 and was eventually settled. On 2 November 1931, the New Course which had been designed by L.S. Greenhill some years before, was officially opened by Sir William Peel . It was said that Sir William Peel ,

684-423: A population density of 4,140 per square kilometre (10,720/sq mi). Hong Kong Island was ceded to Britain in 1842 and Kowloon south of Boundary Street and Stonecutters Island in 1860. The colony of Hong Kong attracted a large number of Chinese and Westerners to seek their fortune in the city. Its population increased rapidly and the city became overcrowded. The outbreak of bubonic plague in 1894 became

760-628: A process called "flipping." In April 2019, the High Court ruled that two out of three methods for obtaining a small house grant (private treaty grants and exchanges) would become banned. The Kuk threatened to ask Beijing for help if an appeal to the April 2019 ruling was not granted, in addition to spending HKD $ 30M on the first round of judicial review. Despite the Small House Policy being a generous government policy that helps male villagers obtain housing, Kingsley Sit Ho-yin, director of

836-568: A result of a letter addressed to Queen Victoria 's Lord Chamberlain the following reply was addressed to Sir William Robinson G.C.M.G. Governor of Hong Kong: "Sir, With reference to your dispatch of 20th July addressed to the Right Honorable The Lord Chamberlain, The Earl of Lothian , I have the honour to inform you that on your application being laid before The Queen, Her Majesty was graciously pleased, in view of your recommendations, to give Her permission to

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912-652: A shared location in Happy Valley . According to "History of the Royal Hongkong Golf Club", which was written by T.F.R. Waters, of these thirteen, with the exception of Robert Murray Rumsey R.N. (then Hong Kong Harbour Master and the Rumsey Street was named after his name.) and Gershom Stewart (afterwards Knighted and a member of parliament for Hoylake) very few had much notion of the game but readily agreed to do what they could to established

988-478: A week (including public holidays). These either start on the hour or half-hour allowing players unlimited use of range balls during these time periods. The night range fee for 60 minutes is HK$ 70 on weekdays and HK$ 100 on weekends and public holidays. An agreement was formed where rural villagers could also play on some parts of the golf course for free, with one villager saying he had been allowed to do so for decades. Approximately 800 villagers were registered under

1064-500: Is HK$ 2,538,000. On 8 May 1889, a notice was published on the Hong Kong Daily Press : "GENTLEMEN INTERESTED IN THE ROYAL AND ANCIENT GAME OF GOLF ARE REQUESTED TO ATTEND A MEETING TO BE HELD IN THE HONGKONG CLUB ON FRIDAY 10TH MAY, 1889 AT 5 pm. TO CONSIDER THE QUESTION OF STARTING A GOLF LINKS IN HONGKONG OR KOWLOON." Then, the "Royal Hong Kong Golf Club" was started in 1889 by "thirteen golfing enthusiasts" in

1140-609: Is a private golf club . It is home to the Hong Kong Open , a tournament co-sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours. Founded in 1889 as the Royal Hong Kong Golf Club , the club originally played in Happy Valley , a location shared with many other activities. As the club expanded, the need for a more permanent home was addressed with the building of a small 9-hole course at Deep Water Bay , before

1216-486: Is possible to pair off. The losing team in the morning Singles matches pays for lunch. The record of these matches are as follows: After WWII, the Fanling property had badly suffered from general neglect which was understandable in the circumstances. The trees had been cut down for fuel and parts of the course including most of the greens had been used for vegetable cultivation. The New Course had been used for training and

1292-470: The Court of First Instance . In August 2023, the government offered to halt construction until legal proceedings were over; the Golf Club rejected the offer, with the Golf Club's lawyer saying the offer did not ensure that the public housing plan would be stopped. In May 2024, the government's lawyer stated that the Golf Club had artificially inflated the number of moths found on the site, saying that "among

1368-586: The Qing China began, the British colonial government of Hong Kong interceded in the land rights of indigenous male villagers by converting those rights to block crown leases (on which crown rent was payable) over village land, creating significant discontent among villagers. The growing antagonism between villagers and the administration was exacerbated when, in 1923, the government imposed restraints on building of village houses on land held by villagers under

1444-512: The Six-Day War of 1899 , a number of clans attempted to resist the British, mobilising clan militias that had been organised and armed to protect against longshore raids by pirates. The militia men attempted a frontal attack against the temporary police station in Tai Po that was the main British base but were beaten back by superior force of arms. An attempt by the clansmen at guerilla warfare

1520-771: The United Kingdom in 1898 for 99 years in the Second Convention of Peking (The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory). Upon the expiry of the lease, sovereignty was transferred to the People's Republic of China in 1997, together with the Qing-ceded territories of Hong Kong Island and Kowloon Peninsula. In 2021, the population of the New Territories was recorded at 3,984,077, with

1596-432: The indigenous inhabitants with regards to land use, land inheritance and marriage laws; the majority of which remained in place into the 1960s when polygamy was outlawed. Some of the concessions with regard to land use and inheritance remain in place in Hong Kong to this day and is a source of friction between indigenous inhabitants and other Hong Kong residents. Lord Lugard was Governor from 1907 to 1912, and he proposed

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1672-496: The pro-Beijing camp , until he stepped down and was succeeded by his son Kenneth Lau . The organisation has its own functional constituency seat in the Hong Kong Legislative Council . Despite having less than 150 registered voters, it also controls 26 seats on the 1200-member committee which selects the chief executive of Hong Kong . In 1906, eight years after the lease of the New Territories from

1748-558: The 1980s, talks between the United Kingdom and the People's Republic of China led to the signing of the Sino-British Joint Declaration (1984), in which the whole of Hong Kong would be returned, instead of only the New Territories. The New Territories comprises nine districts each with their own District Council : According to the 2021 census , the population of the New Territories was 3,984,077, representing 53.7% of Hong Kong's total population. 90.4% of

1824-499: The Eden Course. On 10 October 1971, the 6,142-yard par-71 Eden Course was officially opened by Sir David Trench . Sir David Trench , Governor of Hong Kong from 1964 to 1971, was keen on golf. He had insisted on his regular game of golf even during the political turmoils in late 1960s. In October 1968, Sir David Trench was pairing with Singapore Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew to play a round of golf against Mr Gordon Macwhinnie,

1900-469: The Golf Club. In return, the Golf Club would provide a 'ride' of about four or five miles, which would be laid out around the perimeter of the Golf Club property and would be available at all times for members of the Jockey Club. During the autumn of 1968, John Harris's proposals for the extension of the Eden Course were considered. The members approved expenditure of HK1.3 million on improvements to

1976-528: The Golfers through on each round." The proximity of the Golf Course to the football ground on occasions lead to misdirected shots landing in the football arena but no one seems to have been hit. There was however one occasion when the late "Auntie" Maitland misdirected her drive from the 1st tee and caused serious injury to the eye of a Marine. According to the club annals, "protracted negotiations" with

2052-480: The Governor of Hong Kong in early 1930s, was a keen golfer. Little was allowed to interfere with his weekly round of golf or his regular rides with the Fanling Hunt. He rode hard, plunging across the terraced rice fields, bogging down at times in the waterlogged mud. In 1933, George Bernard Shaw visited the club. In 1936, Mr. Stanley H. Dodwell presented a "Captain's Chair" for the bar room to commemorate

2128-474: The Hong Kong Golf Club being called 'The Royal Hong Kong Golf Club'." This announcement was received with great acclaim and duly celebrated by a banquet at which Sir William was an honoured guest. In 1903, the club obtained exclusive use of Happy Valley ground except for Wednesdays and Saturdays, when soccer and cricket were played. From the start, use by ladies was heavily restricted. And when

2204-612: The Kuk did not support building public housing on parts of the Hong Kong Golf Club . The Kuk advocates for the Small House Policy , a male-only policy which discriminates against female villagers. According to Apple Daily , males are entitled to build a house, worth approximately US$ 2,600,000 at around a cost of about US$ 700,000. Some villagers own the land for five years, and then illegally sell it to developers in

2280-644: The Kuk's earliest days. After becoming a statutory advisory body, the Kuk met regularly with the New Territories Administration to discuss local issues and influence government policies. Tension came to a head in 1971 when a gathering of a thousand villagers in protest at government Small House Policy was described by the New Territories Commissioner Denis Bray as a "village uprising". As part of administrative reforms proposed by McKinsey in 1974,

2356-662: The Kuk's think tank, the Heung Yee Kuk Research Centre, said "Rural villagers have no responsibility to help the government solve the housing shortage. Villagers also face a land shortage. Why does the government not take back more land for us to build small houses?" New Territories Later, after New Kowloon was defined from the area between the Boundary Street and the Kowloon Ranges spanned from Lai Chi Kok to Lei Yue Mun , and

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2432-467: The Rural Committees, generally appointed by village consensus but sometimes by election, had to be male heads of households. After just one such election was found to have been rigged in 1957, the government withdrew recognition of the Kuk entirely. The committees were, in any event, only representative of indigenous villagers, excluding large swathes of the New Territories population right from

2508-429: The amount of HK$ 900,000 to cover the costs. A building levy of HK$ 5 per month for all members was also introduced. Actual and estimated capital expenditure on the improvement to the clubhouse totalled HK$ 1,214,000. In early 1970s, to raise capital for the new complex, including the swimming pool and the mixed accommodation, a scheme of Nominee Memberships was introduced. On payment of HK$ 5,000 – soon raised to HK$ 10,000 –

2584-560: The club eventually moved to its current location in Fanling , most of which is leased from the Hong Kong government. According to the club annals, the Deep Water Bay location opened in 1898; and the 18-hole Old Course was completed in 1911. To expand the facility, in 1968, the club negotiated the lease of around 30 acres of land at Beas River with which it expanded the Eden Course into a full 18-hole championship course. The 'Royal'

2660-743: The club gained exclusive use of Happy Valley in 1903, ladies were allowed to play on Sundays only. In connection with this sharing of the ground at Happy Valley there is on record this remark made by the Captain at the Annual General Meeting of 1903 in connection with the playing of the final of the Club Championship at Happy Valley "The thanks of the Players are due to the Cricketers who so kindly stopped their game to let

2736-474: The club had been reduced to $ 40,000 – a reduction of $ 387,000 in eight years. The first Hong Kong Open took place at the club in 1959. Negotiations with the Jockey Club started in 1967 and, in due course, the Stewards of the Jockey Club agreed to recommend to their members that approximately 30 acres of land at Beas River, between the Jockey Club's West Paddock and Hang Tau Village Road, should be leased to

2812-534: The club in June 2015. Tiffany Chan , a member of Hong Kong Golf Club, was qualified to play 2016 Summer Olympics. She finished for a four over total of 288 (71-75-73-69) and ranked 37 among the 60 players. In 2018, after 5 months of public consultation, the Task Force on Land Supply recommended that land from the Fanling site be used for public housing. A land parcel of 32 hectares to the east of Fan Kam Road of

2888-518: The club's Captain and Mr W.C. Choy at Fanling. In 1996, in advance of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China, the club dropped 'Royal' from its name. In 2015, the club celebrated its 125th anniversary by offering Hong Kong residents a special HK$ 125 green fee rate on selected days. The first Hong Kong Ladies Open took place at

2964-408: The club. During the 1950s, all the greens remodelled and planted with Gezira or Uganda grass. This grass has all come from a shoebox full of seeded soil taken from Uganda to Cairo during the war and one more sod of this grass was flown from Cairo to Hong Kong in 1951. Sir Sidney Gordon , C.B.E., J.P., former President of the club, recalled his stopover at Cairo airport in 1951. "During

3040-629: The colonial government established the position of Secretary for the New Territories to communicate with the Kuk and prepare for development of the area. Over the years the organisation has dabbled in charity work. For example, in 1966 it donated HK$ 660,000 to found the Heung Yee Kuk Yuen Long District Secondary School , in Yuen Long . The Kuk is almost exclusively operated by men. In 1994, legislator Christine Loh attempted to allow female villagers

3116-484: The course architects. It was said that E.R. Hallifax , the then Tai Po District Officer, was the man more than any other responsible for the construction of a course at Fanling golf course. The relationship of the District Officer with the village elders everywhere was avuncular or, indeed, almost paternal. In 1916, Sir Henry May arranged for the club to acquire additional land to form a Relief Course for

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3192-528: The disappearance of the last of the Pimples on the Old Course. Whenever the Captain is at Fanling and any other member or subscriber sits in the chair by mistake, the penalty will be one round of drinks at that particular table in memory of the departed pimples. It was fortunate that although this chair was looted during WWII, it was spotted being used as a Sedan Chair slung between two poles and recovered for

3268-747: The entirety of the Wong Tai Sin and Kwun Tong districts, as well as the mainland portion of the Sham Shui Po District (i.e. excluding the Stonecutters Island ) and the northern portion of the Kowloon City District (portion to the north of Boundary Street/Prince Edward Road West , as well as reclaimed land including the Kai Tak Airport ). Hong Kong Golf Club The Hong Kong Golf Club

3344-614: The extension of the urban areas of Kowloon, New Kowloon was gradually urbanised and absorbed into Kowloon. The New Territories now comprises only the mainland north of the Kowloon Ranges and south of the Sham Chun River, as well as the Outlying Islands. It comprises an area of 952 square kilometres (368 sq mi). Nevertheless, New Kowloon has remained statutorily part of the New Territories instead of Kowloon. The New Territories were leased from Qing China by

3420-488: The fairways, but these were for the most part removed in 1920 as the result of a generous grant through Sir Henry May of $ 50,000, which was paid out as compensation to the families owning them. There was a particularly large number of the "jars" at the base of the "saddle" or, as it is known today, "Tommy Tucker" (derived from the Cantonese "Mm ta-ka ( 唔得㗎 )" – don't strike). These jars unfortunately were in direct line from

3496-403: The golf course, the Golf Club said "The approval... represents a great set-back to the city's efforts to enhance its liveability and combat climate change." In response, a member from Liber Research Community refuted the Golf Club's statement and said "If the ecological value or the environmental value of the land was so great, it does not make sense for it to be used as a golf course, as they use

3572-543: The golf course, which is on the short-term tenancy, will be resumed by the government for housing development . In August 2022, shortly after the election of a new Hong Kong Chief Executive , the South China Morning Post reported that Legislative Council of Hong Kong member Regina Ip , also a member of the golf club, had called for the plans be abandoned; it was also reported that the club itself had been lobbying various groups in an attempt to overturn

3648-523: The government and local farmers resulted in sufficient land being obtained in Fanling, its current location, to build its first full 18-hole course that was completed in 1911. The first idea was to use the Sun Wei valley but the Army Authorities opposed this. Messrs. T. S. Forrest, K. M. Cumming, L. S. Greenhill and M. A. Murray were appointed by the club to view this grazing land. Their report

3724-476: The government to promote the welfare of the people of the New Territories". It was given formal status by the Heung Yee Kuk Ordinance (Chapter 1097) , first enacted 11 December 1959 (originally as no. 45 of 1959) amid the construction of the first New Towns in the New Territories. The Kuk then consisted of 27 Rural Committees representing, in turn, 651 villages. All village representatives on

3800-481: The ladies for extension of their very restricted privileges at Happy Valley as imposed by Commodore Boyes. Negotiations were opened with Government in June 1897 and with the not inconsiderable assistance of the Governor himself, Sir William Robinson , "the best friend the Club ever had", a lease of land for a small nine-hole course at Deep Water Bay was concluded with Hong Kong government in 1898. On 1 September 1897 as

3876-406: The late 1970s, when many new towns were built to accommodate the population growth from urbanised areas of Kowloon and Hong Kong Island. Despite rapid development of the new towns, which now accommodate a population of over 3 million, the Hong Kong Government confines built-up areas to a few areas and reserves large parts of the region as parkland . As the expiry date of the lease neared in

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3952-659: The leases, including imposing a tax (known as a premium) on permission to build if granted. Tensions, whipped up by the newly formed Chinese Communist Party , boiled over in 1925 and the major upheavals of the Canton–Hong Kong strike crippled Hong Kong. It was in these circumstances that the Heung Yee Kuk was formed the next year from the New Territories Association of Agricultural, Industrial and Commercial Research, to "work and negotiate with

4028-553: The members of Scottish origin. In 1921, the first St. George 's versus St. Andrew 's Match was played in the month of January with, until 1926, a return match in December. After 1926, the December game was dropped probably due to the many other competition taking place in that month. Those playing for the Societies must be members of the club as well as members of one of the Societies. Entries are not limited except in so far as it

4104-403: The more than 700 moth species found by the club, around 300 actually were the same species." The club has been led by a president since its founding in 1889. Due to war, financial ruin, and poor management, the list of presidents is not complete; the following list is a partial list. In 1897, the club's membership reached 250. By 1923, the club's membership reached 800. In July 1964, it

4180-485: The plans on environmental grounds. In total, 7 of 16 members of the Executive Council have declared themselves members of the golf club, raising concerns of a conflict of interest. Executive Council member Ronny Tong also criticized the plan to build public housing on the course. In September 2022, the president of the Hong Kong Golf Club argued that it would not be cost effective to build public housing on

4256-407: The presidency. Despite this influence at Court the military authorities could not be persuaded to become cooperative, and after some months the proposition had to be dropped. However, on 30 September 1889 permission was eventually obtained from Hong Kong Government to use ground at Happy Valley. Money was raised and work was started making the greens and tees. The architect of the course at Happy Valley

4332-485: The residents of New Territories use Cantonese as their main language. 3.5% of its residents use English , 2.0% use Mandarin Chinese , and 2.3% of New Territories' residents use other Chinese dialects. 93.1% of the district's population is of Chinese descent. The largest ethnic minority groups are Filipinos (2.1%), Indonesians (1.8%), South Asians (1.1%), Mixed (0.8%) and Whites (0.7%). New Kowloon covers

4408-417: The return of Weihaiwei to the Chinese government, in return for the ceding of the leased New Territories in perpetuity. The proposal was not received favourably, although if it had been acted on, Hong Kong might have remained forever in British hands. Much of the New Territories was, and to a limited extent still is, made up of rural areas. Attempts at modernising the area did not become fully committed until

4484-506: The same land-inheritance rights as men, but the Kuk protested, claiming that granting females equal inheritance rights would interfere with rural issues. The Kuk sent 25 members to London to protest against the bill, which eventually passed despite their protests. The Kuk was also involved with the Wang Chau housing controversy , where a planned development was downsized in the interests of the Kuk. In October 2023, local news reported that

4560-690: The security of Hong Kong. Using the most favoured nation clause that it had negotiated with Peking, the United Kingdom demanded the extension of Kowloon to counter the influence of France in southern China in June 1898. In July, it secured Weihaiwei in Shandong in the north as a base for operations against the Germans in Qingdao (Tsingtao) and the Russians in Port Arthur. Chinese officials stayed in

4636-429: The sewage treatment plant belonging to one of those estates of the new town, Shek Wu Hui . This was the last time that the club issued Nominee Membership. The club welcomes non-member Hongkongers on weekdays at HK$ 1,200 per round and HK$ 500 if they play after 3 pm. The number of rounds is unlimited The club offers practice sessions on the night range in 30-minute intervals from 6 pm until 11 pm seven days

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4712-538: The site. The Golf Club hosted an event with hundreds of dogs in an effort to rally public support against redevelopment of the land. Ta Kung Pao , a newspaper aligned with Beijing, said that "If the golf course development plan is thwarted, the public impression of 'business colluding with government officials' will only get worse." John Lee has said that he respected the plan to build public housing. In May 2023, after Hong Kong's environmental authority gave conditional approval for building public housing on part of

4788-417: The takeover of the New Territories was fixed as 17 April 1899, and Tai Po was chosen as the administrative centre. The transfer was not smooth and peaceful. In early April 1899, Captain Superintendent of Police, Francis Henry May and some policemen erected a flagstaff and temporary headquarters at Tai Po and posted the Governor's proclamation of the takeover date. Fearing for their traditional land rights, in

4864-438: The tee and got broken one by one by duffed tee-shots. The penalty for picking out was one stroke but the picking was usually left to the caddie. Trees were conspicuous by their absence, but then so was the grass on the fairways which were more rolled mud than anything else. This made the fairways very dusty especially on a windy day. The Greens were turfed with local grass, much of it 'cabbage', which made putting difficult whilst

4940-454: The town. There was no mountain range as a natural border. Lockhart suggested moving the frontier to the line of hills north of Shenzhen. This suggestion was not received favourably and the Chinese official suggested the frontier be moved to the hill much further south of the Sham Chun River. It was settled in March 1899 that the boundary remain at the Sham Chun River. The new Hong Kong Governor, Henry Blake arrived in November 1898. The date for

5016-449: The use of the Ladies. At the time the Old Course was laid out, there were no trees at all on the course except down by the 3rd green and one or two near the clubhouse site. Much forestry work was undertaken during the period 1915–1919 but there was still very little to show yet except beautiful clumps of lilies and cannas on the hillsides. Grave mounds, or "pimples", as they were known, plus innumerable jars of human bones, existed on many of

5092-399: The usual one-hour stopover and, as relations between the United Kingdom and Egypt were rather strained, the customs officer was somewhat suspicious of this damp, sackcloth-wrapped, parcel and insisted on it being opened. The contents made him even more suspicious but the intervention of the air crew enabled us to get it on board just before take-off." By the end of 1956, the indebtedness of

5168-430: The walled cities of Kowloon City and Weihaiwei. The extension of Kowloon was called the New Territories. The additional land was estimated to be 365 square miles (950 km ) or 12 times the size of the existing Colonial Hong Kong at the time. Although the convention was signed on the 9 June 1898 and became effective on 1 July, the British did not take over the New Territories immediately. During this period, there

5244-413: Was Captain (afterwards Colonel) H. N. Dumbleton R.E. The work progressed rapidly, and it is recorded that in May 1890 a match of six a side was played between the club and the 91st Regiment of the Argyle and Sutherland Highlanders, which the Club won easily. In 1896, Captain Rumsey and Captain Dumbleton examined the possibilities of Deep Water Bay as a possible solution to the ever-increasing pressure from

5320-416: Was authorised on the basis of HK$ 500 per member. A few of the long established firms such as the Hong Kong Bank and Jardines also took up a number of the debentures to aid the club. In 1963, an EGM was called and a Fanling Development Scheme was approved. Two resolutions were passed authorising the committee to proceed with a scheme for the extension of the Fanling clubhouse and the issue of debentures to

5396-449: Was completed in early 1983 at a cost of about HK$ 25 million. The financial problems were eventually overcome. Following many years of loss, a profit was reported in 1984 for the third year running. Since then, the club has remained in the black. In 1986, 10 Nominee Memberships were issued in the price of HK$ 1.1 million to raise fund for the building of the automatic irrigation system, which piping secondary treated effluent from

5472-474: Was decided to close the membership. All applicants, regardless of nationality, were put on the waiting list. The policy was to put the emphasis on giving membership to established golfers as opposed to beginners. The club currently has 2,510 members, including 365 corporate nominee memberships. Prior to 1921, there had been several matches of Scotland versus the Rest with usually very unsatisfactory results for

5548-495: Was dropped from the name of the club in 1996, in advance of the transfer of sovereignty over Hong Kong from the United Kingdom to the People's Republic of China. The club paid a one-off premium to lease the land, and is wrongly labelled to pay only a peppercorn rent annually. In 2012, the club paid HK$ 1.9 million for rent and HK$ 3.2 million for rates. In Year 2013–2014, the Government Rent Payable

5624-416: Was enthusiastic and favourable. Negotiations with Government were opened (1908) for a lease of sufficient land for a full-size 18-hole course to be constructed. These negotiations with Government were protracted despite the club receiving a great deal of assistance from the Governor, Sir Henry May , in dealing with the local farmers in the matter of acquiring certain extra pieces of land considered essential by

5700-491: Was no Hong Kong Governor and Wilsone Black acted as administrator. James Stewart Lockhart , the Colonial Secretary of Hong Kong , was sent back from England to make a survey of New Territories before formal transfer. The survey found that the new frontier at Sham Chun River (Shenzhen river) suggested by Wilsone Black was far from ideal. It excluded the town of Shenzhen (Sham Chun), and the boundary would divide

5776-467: Was put down by the British near Lam Tsuen with over 500 Chinese men killed, and collapsed when British artillery was brought to bear on the walled villages of the clansmen. Most prominent of the villages in the resistance Kat Hing Wai , of the Tang clan , was symbolically disarmed, by having its main gates dismounted and removed. However, in order to prevent future resistance the British made concessions to

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