0 years of CGF:

On December 2, 1931 the history of the Czech Golf Federation began to be written

On this day exactly 90 years ago, the first organization that was the direct predecessor of the Czech Golf Federation was founded. The then Czech Golf Federation was established on 2 December 1931 and the first committee was also elected and started to manage Czech golf.

Czech golf was not a bed of roses especially after 1948, but there were a number of key moments in its history. In the last installment of the 90th anniversary series, we will recall the main events of its rich history.

1931

Golf was not an unknown sport in the Czechoslovakia of the time, but its biggest supporters decided that it needed a strong leadership in the form of a national organisation for its further development. It was necessary to establish uniform handicaps, to announce official championships for shots and holes (the first shots championship was played in 1930) and to integrate golf into the sporting structures of the time. The key date was December 2, 1931, when the committee of the Golf Association of the Czechoslovakia, headed by František Ringhoffer, was established.

1952

Despite the difficult times of the Second World War, our sport managed to survive and rightly promised further development from the new times, but the opposite was true. The communists came to power after the February 1948 coup. Golf was sidelined and in 1952 even removed from recognised sports by a resolution of the Sokol Central Committee. Fortunately, this did not put an end to golf activities; efforts to close the courses in Líšnice and Mariánské Lázně were resisted and national championships were played.

1966

The sixties brought new hope to society and to golf, even contacts with foreign countries. In 1966 golf was fully recognised and put on the same level as other sports. The Golf Management Commission was established, and in 1969 the Czechoslovak Golf Association was founded.

1989

However, the following twenty years did not favour the development of golf again. And free times came only after the revolution in 1989. A real golf boom began with the construction of new courses and a significant expansion of the membership base. In 1990 the Czechoslovak Golf Federation was founded and the first independent clubs were formed.

1993

The break-up of federal Czechoslovakia also brought about the division of the national golf federations. At the same time, the current name of the Czech Golf Federation was established, with Hanus Goldscheider taking the helm. The massive development of golf is evidenced by the fact that there are now 105 standardised courses in Bohemia, Moravia and Silesia and golf has become the sixth most widespread domestic sport in terms of the number of registered players.

The CGF is proud of its rich history and in many ways builds on it directly or indirectly. Last year, for example, it returned to joint competition between amateurs and professionals after 86 years. In 1935, the national open championship was held in Mariánské Lázně, and last year the newly established Czech Open Golf Tour followed a similar model.