Know your BT Golf venue: The Tollygunge Club

The Tollygunge Club, venue of BT Golf’s fifth and final event of the 2022-23 season presented by Royal Ranthambore, started life as a plantation and has gone through several iterations before its current avatar of a golf course set in the heart of bustling south Kolkata with a historic and classical building that hosts the clubhouse itself.

Set up in 1895, the club has – besides its rich heritage – a long-standing sports traditions and today offers members and visitors tennis courts, squash courts, two swimming pools, an equestrian centre and a gymnasium and spa to make good use of. This is in addition to the sprawling club buildings that house accommodation and a good number of restaurants and bars.

A 6,292-yard 18-hole par-70 course that is in frequent use on India’s domestic women’s and men’s professional course, the Tolly track itself offers a series of varying challenges designed to test the skill and ability of not just amateur golfers but also those who play the game professionally. The course has undergone several upgrades mostly recently with its greens being re-laid as well.

The first and only time I got to play at the Tolly was a rainy disaster but a hastily-purchased tee-shirt with the club’s emblem is still a happy possession but the memory of ball-hunting in the thick grass alongside its fairways or watching in disappear into the pond that guards the 10th hole’s fairway is still a fresh memory.

The back nine has one tricky little hole, the par-4 16th that is both a test of accuracy as well as and ball-placing. The other trial was on the front nine, again a par-4, the dog-leg third hole that requires precision in finding the right lines particularly for the approach to the green.

Course facts: Par 70, Yardage 6292 from Blue tees, 5557 yards from Yellow tees.

Front nine (from Blue tees): Hole 1: 405 yds par-4, Stroke Index 7; Hole 2: 171 yds, par-3, SI 17; Hole 3: 415 yds, par-4; SI 1; Hole 4: 398 yds par-4, SI 11; Hole 5: 404 yds par-4, SI 3; Hole 6: 215 yds par-3, SI 13; Hole 7: 491 yds par-5, SI 9; Hole 8: 177 yds par-3; SI 15; Hole 9: 433 yds par-4, SI 5. Total 3109 yards.

Back nine (from Blue tees): Hole 10: 510 yds par-5; SI 14; Hole 11: 175 yds par-3, SI 16; Hole 12: 370 yds par-4; SI 10; Hole 13: 498 yds par-5, SI 4; Hole 14: 356 yds par-4, SI 12; Hole 15: 311 yds par-4, SI 6; Hole 16: 392 yds par-4; SI 2; Hole 17: 369 yds par-4, SI 8; Hole 18: 202 yds, par-3, SI 18. Total 3183 yards.