Czechoslovakian Golf History till the Year 2011

Transcription

1 Czechoslovakian Golf History till the Year 2011 Autor: Michael Jon; Cvičitel Jakub Cervenka, student EIGCA

2 Czechoslovakia till Disclaimer This presentation was based on a publication History of Golf in the Czech Counties and Slovakia and will quote passages from it. The author of this very distinguished publication is a former Vice President of the Czech Golf Federation, an important personality from Líšnice Golf Club and the entire Czech Golf scene, Mr. Prokop Sedlák. Autor: Michael Jon;

3 Prokop Sedlák Inducted into Czech Golf Hall of Fame in 2005 for years of organising activities for the Czech Golf scene and extensive publishing about Czech Golf history Son of a founding member of the Líšnice Golf Club (in 1928) Successful golfer (member of the Líšnice Golf Club since 1966) Secretary of the first Czechoslovakian Golf Federation established in for 5 years Member of the Czech and Moravian Golf Federation Committee Member of the Czech Golf Federation Committee for 12 years, the last four-year-tenure as its Vice President President of the Líšnice Golf Club ( ) Author of a booklet about the Líšnice Golf Club s pre-ww II history, an online extensive study about Czech Golf history, a number of articles about the history of Czech Golf and its personalities and a book History of Golf in the Czech Counties and Slovakia published in 2004 Known for his deep respect for golf traditions which his conduct has always reflected.

4 First Steps Taken by golf enthusiasts in Prague at the Císařská louka isle as early as 1898 First 9-hole Golf Course in Karlovy Vary opened in 1904 Fist tournament - The Fürstenberg s Trophy organised in 1906 in Karlovy Vary, and over the years won by the following international players: 1906 Mr. Diaz Albertini 1907 Mr. D. F. Murphy 1908 Mr. High Write 1909 Mr. O. P. Cormant 1910 Mr. S. W. Bates 1911 Mr. Lee A. Agneur 1927 Mr. Alex Rewell Paris New York Chicago New York New York Chicago

5 1905 Mariánské Lázně Golf Course opened in presence and through the initiative of the English King, Edward VII Featured in Golf Illustrated in 1909 On the occasion of the 100 anniversary, officially authorised by Her Royal Highness, Queen Elizabeth II, to use the attribute Royal, thus changing its name to the Royal Golf Club Mariánské Lázně.

6 Golf Club Praha Established in March 1926, lead by a 7-member management echelon, President Ing. Jaroslav Jahn Organised the first tournament while the golf course was still under construction in Autumn 1927 Enjoyed the teaching skills of an English Golf Professional Arnold Linacre On January 20th, 1928, its honorary committee was elected: Honorary President: Jan Masaryk Honorary Members: Dr. Karel Baxa, Prague Major Sir G. R. Clerk, a former UK Ambassador Mr. Levis Einstein, US Ambassador Ing. František Gross Dr. Otto Petschk, Dr. Jaroslav Preiss Army General Zdeněk Weinerek.

7 1928 Golf Club Líšnice Established on November 21st, 1928 The Founding Members: President: Prof. Ing. Karel Vávra Vice President: Dr. Ludvík Vaněk Secretary: Dr. Prokop Sedlák Treasurer: Dr. Ladislav Haškovec Green Keeper: Jaroslav O.Franta The Club symbol is very traditional a yellow target; the club flag - a red-yellow-and-white tricolour Established as a male golf club Allowing the significant others to accompany their men and play, but not to attend the club meetings (until 1958).

8 1929 & František Ringhoffer A beautiful private 18-hole Golf Course adjacent to the summer home of František Ringhoffer in Volešovice is featured for the first time in the 1928 s August Issue of the Tennis-Golf Revue In the 1920s strictly private, later becoming the venue for many international tournaments A Golf Course is built in the village Olšová Vrata by Karlovy Vary.

9 1929 & New International Rules In November 1929, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews declares that clubs with iron shafts may be used at play at all tournaments sees the first Czech version of the Golf Rules owing to the hard work and care of the Golf Club Praha A literal translation of the rules published by the Royal & Ancient GC of St. Andrews, featuring attached index and golf dictionary in five languages (English, Czech, German, French and Italian)

10 1929 Czech Golf Federation Reasons Need to unify the golf management at the national level Call for unified rules and ways of setting handicaps Need to elect a body to organise the Czechoslovakian National Championship Need to create a committee to include golf in the Czechoslovakian sports organisation. The first management echelon: František Ringhoffer, Sen. - President (RGC Volešovice, GCP) Ing. Jaroslav Jahn Vice President (GCP) JUDr. Ferdinand Tonder - Secretary (GCL) E. Winter - Treasurer (GC Piešťany) Dr. Karel Rössler - Echelon member representing GC Praha Felix Ringhoffer - Echelon member representing RGC Volešovice JUDr. Adolf Hoffmeister - Echelon member representing GC Líšnice Army Colonel Hennig - Echelon member representing GC Piešťany Ing. Josef Charvát - General Secretary.

11 1929 Czech Golf Federation Two secondary management echelons were also established 1) Technical 2) Promotional Technical Committee s responsibility a) to process all technical issues b) prepare and organise the local and union games c) provide definitive interpretations of the golf rules At its first meeting, it voted as follows: 1) All members of the Association are bound by the rules of the Royal and Ancient GC of St. Andrews 2) Scratch Scores for all member Golf Courses united in the Association will follow The regulations of the British Golf Unions Joint Advisory Committee and will be set by the Association s Secretariat.

12 1937 European Golf Association 1937 European Golf Association A new Golf Course launches its operations in Karlovy Vary The Golf Course in Motol (opened since 1927 and having hosted 2 National and 2 International Amateur Championships of Czechoslovakia) terminates its operations Golf Club Praha starts its move to Klánovice; Mariánské Lázně host The Open Czechoslovakian Championship attended and won by the British Professional, Henry Cotton, twice the winner of The British Open; The European Golf Association is established in Luxembourg with the Czechoslovakian Golf Association as one of its founding members.

13 Era of the Shadows and Darkness 1938 The Peak of the Famous pre-ww II Era of Czech Golf Two West Bohemian courses of excellent quality for top competitions - the new Karlovy Vary Golf Course was referred to in superlatives as one of the best courses of the continent - a new Golf Course under construction by Klánovice (it launched its operations while still under construction on June 25th, 1938 hosting the female Czechoslovakian Championship)

14 WW II Autumn 1938 The borderline territories are separated from the country including the two best 18-hole Golf Courses, leaving the Klánovice Course as the centre of the golf competitions for many years to come The year 1939 The first Protectorate Season Nazi occupation, repressions, emigration of many important personalities of the Czech Golf scene with yet uninterrupted sports activities.

15 Era of the Red Shadows Post February 1948 Changes 5 Active Golf Clubs 1) Golf Club Praha 2) Czech Golf Club 3) Líšnice Golf Club 4) Mariánské Lázně Golf Club 5) Golf Club Brno Forced central unification of physical education and sports, including golf, under Sokols (different from the international Sokol Community) administered by the local people s administrations thus absorbing the established sport units, clubs and associations; E.g. the Líšnice Golf Club started operating under the alias Sokol Líšnice, and the Czechoslovakian Golf Association was replaced by the Golf Headquarters of the Czech Sokol Community. A new term is coined in golf: a Golf Unit to replace the word club, but the enforced organizational change has not influenced the sport activities yet.

16 Era of the Merry Darkness 1950s The Time of the Greatest Threat Golf becomes a target of liquidation attempts motivated by class division hatred (as it is believed that there is no room in this new lifestyle for the aristocratic and bourgeois sport ) Central Bohemia becomes the battle field for golf survival.

17 Era of the Merry Darkness Mariánské Lázně, because of its remoteness to the centre of the political violence, is spared the blind class hatred that destroys everything deviating from the dictated life style The Klánovice Golf Course is being destroyed, but quite paradoxically, an intense bootstrap restoration of a new course, starts in Karlovy Vary, that in the ten years of idleness almost disappeared under the attack of natural seeding plants.

18 The way things were done back then... In 1951, golf was not played in Klánovice any longer. The following is an example of how an attempt to revive golfing activities in Klánovice ended.

19 July 17th, 1952, Addressee: Sokol, Újezd nad Lesy Re: A Golf Unit liquidation Újezd nad Lesy, Ref. Nr. 6759/52 II With regards to your appeal dated June 6, 1952 in which you challenged the Czechoslovakian Sokol Community s proceeding concerning your Golf Unit, the State Office in charge of Physical Education and Sports (SOPRS) hereto declares: CSO herewith admits that the General Secretary had granted you a permission to fix and use the Klánovice Golf Course, but wishes to stress that he did so without obtaining prior consent from the elected body that later expressed a different view of the matter. The SOPRS s official standpoint regarding golfing is as follows: We do not consider it purposeful to introduce and support golf in our country. We do not deny that it might be a very beneficial sport health wise when it comes to certain age citizens as it requires only slight physical activity performed outdoors, but its qualities when it comes to the country defence readiness that you so stress, it possesses not. There are many better sports our youth can practice, without all those bourgeois attributes of golf attached. Golf is nothing but a sport blindly copying the west ways with its pursuers being such great sportsmen that they have to make their servants carry their clubs their sports equipment. Despite the fact that golf in our country, if still rarely cultivated, is rid of these flaws of the bourgeois ways of treating sports as it is mostly practiced by spa town holidaymakers, the general masses crave it not. If practiced, then for the practicality of it as there are certain establishments in our spa towns where closing them down would not be practical as no alternative use has been proposed. Golf as a leisure time filler is quite suitable for those spa town holidaymakers as even the elderly among them are quite conspicuously made to walk several kilometres that they would otherwise, even if recommended by their physician, not do. However, we do not in general find it useful as a regular sport and value a lot higher other healthy sports that we promote, support and strive at assuring their mass expansion. For our youth, we recommend all ball games, track and field (athletics), swimming, skiing, gymnastics, etc., and for those of certain age namely touristic. Also, the Soviet people s game gorodky is very suitable namely for those of age. Most certainly, there are those even among your members who would take such liking in it that they would forget golf altogether and never think of it again. We expect that based on this explanation, you will redirect your most valued passion for sport towards its different section, stay faithful to pursuing physical readiness and keep helping us make our physical education bloom. Deputy Minister (on behalf of Rott)..

20 Time to Pause and Take a Deep Breath The Beginning of the 60 s a Speedy Take-off Physical Education Units (TJs) are still in charge of sports activities in the country In 1960, Karlovy Vary Golf Course is reopened after a ten-year-long reconstruction that kept the original order of holes The same year, the County Committee of the Czechoslovakian Physical Education Union (ČSTV) in Karlovy Vary publishes a reprint of Golf Rules and Regulations in a format of a University textbook In 1962, a pocket book format, published under the patronage of the Golf Management Board, follows, with added rules for handicap compensations and allowances The handicap regulations followed the American model based on the best 10 out of the last 25 achieved results during the current or past season, including results with gimme putts, both at competitions and non-competition events. The handicap compensations and allowances were checked throughout the season at least once a month. The highest handicap compensation for gentlemen was 36, for ladies 50. Commencement of the era of organised competitions: All golfers participating in a competition had to present their Unit Member Cards containing a valid medical readiness confirmation Team captains had to submit the team line up to the referee before the start of the event.

21 Era of High Hopes and Melting of the Ice Czech golf during the era of the political climate warming-up 1965, a first international tournament since 1939, in a form of a stroke play over 54 holes, is hosted by the Mariánské Lázně Golf Unit and attended by a very popular Swedish hockey player Sven Tumba, making the previously neglected sport popular with the public. The gentlemen category results: Jiří Dvořák (Slovan Mariánské Lázně) Jaroslav Dvořák (Slovan Karlovy Vary) Sven Tumba (Sweden) 239 strokes 240 strokes 255 strokes Ladies: Ludmila (Duňa) Křenková (Slavoj Praha) Hana Brožová (Slovan Karlovy Vary) Edita Soukalová (Slovan Karlovy Vary) 260 strokes 262 strokes 272 strokes

22 Golf becoming a member sport of the Czechoslovakian Physical Education Union (ČSTV) 1966 recapitulation: 10 active Golf Units, two 18-hole Golf Courses (Mariánské Lázně and Karlovy Vary), two 9-hole Golf Courses (Líšnice and Bozkov by Semily) and one golf course under construction (Poděbrady) The national competition, called the League, played over five rounds in 1967 Brno Golf Unit revived, new Ostrava Golf Unit established and a new golf course being built in Ostrava/Šilheřovice 1968, Rules for setting handicap compensations and allowances are published by the Golf Section of the Czechoslovakian Physical Education Union s General Committee that confirm the validity of the rules applied in 1962; 1968, Czechoslovakian Golf Union is established.

23 Czechoslovakian Golf Union Czechoslovakian Golf Union renewed its membership in the European Golf Association thus strengthening the international status of Czech Golf and supported national educational activities Dr. Balcar starts publishing methodological letters based on the golf school of Ben Hogan Karel Hynek, considered the Czech golfer with the best technique, organises golf seminars and works with aspiring golfers from the entire country A Czech Golf umbrella organisation at the State level, on par with the top management echelons of other sport sections is established: Miroslav Plodek President MUDr. Ivo Balcar - Methodologist Prokop Sedlák Secretary Jan Klement Treasurer Hanuš Goldscheider - International Secretary Václav Soukal - Sports and Technical Committee Director Jan Šperl - Material Readiness Committee Director JUDr. Jiří Effmert - Director of the Rules Board JUDr. František Krčma - Educational and Promotional Agent Otakar Řezáč and Jaromír Fuchs Director of the Board for Working with Youth Josef Punčochář - Director of the Review Board Miloslav Bouška (Motol), Bohumil Vokoun (Mariánské Lázně) and Ivan Vávra (Líšnice) all receive the utmost recognition as professional golf trainers.

24 1970 s Czechoslovakian Golf Union in the 70 s The name of the Czechoslovakian Golf Union was changed to the Czechoslovakian Union of Golf; Michal Polák appointed a paid Secretary Milan Moučka joins the Committee as the Director of the Sports-Technical Section and takes over all affairs connected with organising national golf events A new 18-hole course in Šilheřovice by Ostrava joins the club of the two existing 18-hole West Bohemian courses Mariánské Lázně Golf Course hosts a European Junior Championship and undergoes partial changes and extensions gaining two new holes Karlovy Vary Golf Course sees changes too namely new competition tees at all holes; The Poděbrady Golf Course construction is finished and in Semily, a new challenging course is established, located right at the city border line in the Jizera River Valley and on the adjacent hill Líšnice Golf Course is rebuilt in the system of seven non crossing holes.

25 Further Growth and New Handicap Rules New handicap rules came into effect as of January 1, 1970, based on the English way of calculating handicaps. To set one s handicap, only results achieved at events organised by clubs associated in CGU or at foreign Golf Courses playing stroke play tournaments are considered. Each club hosting an event must immediately upon its termination notify the clubs whose members attended the competition about their results; handicaps must be checked and adjusted after each three competitions. Golfers were divided into four groups based on their handicaps: 1st group hcp +2 to -3 2nd group hcp -4 to -9 3rd group hcp -10 to -15 4th group hcp -16 to -24

26 70 s - Summary Czechoslovakian Union of Golf in the 70 s summary 14 active Czech Golf Units: GC Mariánské Lázně (President MUDr. Karel Horáček) SK Slavia Praha (Miloslav Plodek) TJ Slavoj Praha (Eva Vávrová) TJ Lokomotiva Brno (Ing. Otakar Mikš) Golf Club Praha (Bohumil Pospíšil) TJ Konstruktiva Praha (JUDr. Vladislav Průcha) TJ Slovan Karlovy Vary (MUDr. Dalibor Procházka) GC Start Karlovy Vary (Bedřich Waldert) TJ Tatran SZ Praha (MUDr. Jan Klement) Slávie VŠ Praha NHKG Ostrava (Ing. Jan Cieslar) TJ Slovan Poděbrady (Jaroslav Vácha) Jiskra Kolora Semily TJ Start Plzeň TJ Tesla Oldřichovice TJ Kaučuk Kralupy.

27 70 s - Summary Czechoslovakian Union of Golf in the 70 s summary 1977, a first Slovakian golf unit associated with the TJ Elán Bratislava is established from the initiative of Miroslav Kaličiak and Juraj Lupsina CGU manages to import a larger number of Golf Clubs, trolleys and balls with the help of Foreign Trade Enterprise Pragoexport From May 11th to 14th, 1970, Mariánské Lázně hosts a follow-up seminar for professional trainers of golf which is then repeated regularly, developing a number of devoted golf trainers Tournaments are attended by still more golfers Importance of driving ranges is acknowledged, but not acted upon as many golf courses use selected fairways instead Bohumil Vokoun, a respected golf trainer from Mariánské Lázně passes away and is devoted a Memorial Tournament.

28 Golden 80 s As leggings (spandex pants), salt and pepper jeans, denim jackets and Chinese version of Converse shoes dominate our wardrobes, Karsten Solheim gives the world Ping Eye2 clubs Czech Golf is still on the rise despite the unfavourable political climate that only changes a little due to the changes in the geo-political situation in the second half of the 80 s European Junior Championship is hosted here in 1979; with exquisite organisation and deemed a great international success. Though at a domestic level, the budget was exceeded, which in the planned economy was an unforgivable mistake, depriving Czech Golf the opportunity to host similar events for many years to come The Communist regime labelled golf a bourgeois sport and imposed import embargo on golfing equipment (with the only exception of CSA pilots who smuggled in not only clubs and balls, but also magazines) Imported balls were covered in the Kanagon glue and tape and if lost, the game was interrupted until the ball was found Pine cones were used for practicing.

29 80 s Tournaments In 1982, the Slovak Golf Unit Elán Bratislava starts a tradition of a complex tournament composed of: The Bratislava Tournament (2x18 holes) played as a singles competition The Elán Cup as the competition of pairs (1x18 holes head to head Foursomes). The Elán Cup winner was crowned the pair with the lowest sum total of the both player s scores in the Bratislava Tournament combined with their score in the Elán Cup. In 1988, 14 tournaments are hosted by the Prague/Motol Golf Course as follows: The Victory Competition, The May Tournament, Dr. Klement s Memorial, Intersigma, Prague Grand Prix, Golf Cup, Air India, Sporttourist Cup, TJ Kuželky Tournament, Míla Plodek s Memorial, Čedok Tournament, Konstruktiva Tournament, November 17th and Traditional Tournament; In 1989, the first year of the Líšnice Cup is held at the previously isolated Golf Course; The Victory competition in Karlovy Vary held from May 9 to 10, golfers The Start Grand Prix hosted by Karlovy Vary from May 14tto 15, golfers The international Spa tournament organised in Mariánské Látně, May 27 to golfers The M. Plodek s Memorial hosted by Mariánské Lázně from July 30 to golfers In 1987, the Karlovy Vary Karlovarský Porcelain Tournament golfers The 1988 Ostrava Šilheřovice Tournament - 78 golfers Tthe Metasport Cup held in golfers The Konstruktiva Tournament hosted in Motol in golfers

30 80 s Golf Units and Players Both the number of golfers and golf units they were registered in grew again throughout the 80 s. Golf Units with registered players as of January 1t, 1981 and April 1t, 1987: Mariánské Lázně 75 (90), Golf Praha 45 (103), Start Karlovy Vary 52 (72), Slovan Karlovy Vary 32 (68), Baník Sokolov 0 (11), Start Plzeň 13 (13), Tatran SZ Praha 26 (32), Slavoj Praha 9 (16), Konstruktiva Praha 17 (20), VŠ Praha 20 (15), Kuželky Praha 0 (8), Tatran Praha I3 (3), Bohemia Poděbrady 13 (42), Kolora Semily 33 (39), Lokomotiva Brno 16 (46), NHKG Ostrava 63 (116), Tesla Třinec 5 (16), and Elán Bratislava 3(27). A new Golf Unit associated with the TJ Baník Sokolov is established in an attempt to build a Golf Course on reclaimed land from surface coal mining, with members mostly recruited among the former members of the Mariánské Lázně Golf Club, where they returned after the Unit ceased its existence in the 90 s; The number of players with handicap grew between the years 1981 and 1987 from 425 to 737 players The best male players according to their handicaps as of January 1, 1981: Jiří Dvořák (-1), Jan Kunšta (-1), Pavel Fulín (-1), Jiří Kunšta (-2), Arnošt Kopta (-2), Miroslav Němec (-2), Miroslav Brtek (-2), Helmut Pszota (-2), Jiří Zavázal (-2), Jaroslav Hanek (-3), Antonín Kunšta (-4), Václav Pinkas (-4), Jan Zitterbart (-4), Josef Schneberger (-4), Karel Čechovský (-4), František Kříž (-4), Mikuláš Ordnung (-4), Jan Graca (-4), Jan Juhaniak (-4), Vladimír Mařík (-4), Jiří Novotný (-4), Jan Schovánek (-4), Jiří Kodeš (-4); The best female players according to their handicaps as of January 1s, 1981: Amara Hudcová (-4), Ludmila Křenková (-6), Vlasta Keplová (-7),Hana Chrástková (-8);

31 80 s Golf Units and Players Performance ranking in 1988: Male golfers: (an average PAR divergence): Jan Juhaniak 2.66; Petr Mrůzek 3.16; Miroslav Brtek 3.91; Jan Kunšta 4.75; Pavel Fulín 4.83; Jiří Janda 5.08; Jiří Seifert 5.25; Miroslav Němec 5.41; Jiří Blažek 5.41; Lumír Kainer 5.58; Jiří Kunšta 5.91; Jiří Kodeš 6.25; Ondřej Trupl 6.41; Jiří Zavázal 6.41; Jan Zitterbart 6.83; Female golfers: (an average par divergence): Ludmila Křenková 6.50; Martina Dorníková 9.25; Halina Sztwiertniová

32 80 s Interesting Faces & International Exposure In 1989, the Republic Championship in match play held in Mariánské Lázně and attended by 65 foreign golfers Alex Krag (Denmark) the Champion with 286 strokes ( ) Marcus Brier (Austria) second with 297 strokes Thomas Björn (Denmark) third with 302 strokes; Representation team s appearance at the European Championship (very seldom also complemented by appearance of the individuals); National Championships of the neighbouring countries (on condition that the golfers paid for the trip themselves).

33 How Golf grows at Czech Republic