Walk of History

Founded 125 years ago, the Engadine Golf Club in Samedan is the oldest golf club in Switzerland and the sixth oldest golf club on the European continent. Everything started in summer 1889, when hotel pioneer Conradin von Flugi travelled to England to assess the options for building a golf course in the Engadine. The result was a nine-hole course situated between today’s railway station and St. Moritz Bad. This course was first mentioned in the «Engadine Year Book» of 1890 which rated it as «very sporty». Thus it was the people of St. Moritz and their guests who first provided golf with a home on the old continent. Golf was soon taking the Engadine by storm, and the Municipality of Samedan granted Hotel Bernina permission to build an 18-hole golf course on the Champagna plain. The director of Hotel Bernina, Angelo Fanconi, assumed the role of Honorary Secretary of the Engadine Golf Club when it was founded in Samedan in 1893. The first tournament was held on 1–2 August 1893. According to extensive coverage in the «The Alpine Post», the Mixed Foursome («Members Only») was the most important tournament.

The old Engadine Golf Club clubhouse in Samedan would have many stories to tell. The first pavilion, from which afternoon tea was served during the first tournaments, was built in 1893. It was a simple, dirty, almost cowshed-like hut that was as draughty as a sieve and only offered a measure of protection from wind and weather. The «new» clubhouse was built in 1901, a small, pretty building resembling a Swiss chalet, that promised spaciousness and attractiveness from the first glance. It comprised a dining room and men’s and women’s changing rooms. At the front of the building, a pleasant veranda of about ten by three metres tempted visitors to take afternoon tea and enjoy the glorious view across the valley. The clubhouse cost CHF 10,000. By 1913 the clubhouse had reached its limits; it was too small and needed extending and some additional new furniture. The CHF 50,000 for the construction was covered by donations and 70 guests were welcomed to the traditional «Fourth of July» dinner in the spacious new dining hall. The lovely veranda remained as inviting as ever. In 1983 the cosy clubhouse made way for the building we see today: the new clubhouse with more space and comfort was needed to meet the demands of the members and guests. A restaurant with a large terrace overlooking the golf course, a pro shop and secretary’s office, plus women’s and men’s changing rooms.

Caddies were an integral part of every golf course in the early years of golf. On the Samedan course, local boys and girls, including some who were later to become famous artists such as Giacometti or Segantini, earned good pocket money as caddies, who in those days carried the golf bags of the players – members and guests. One of the guests was John Plant, an Englishman who came to St. Moritz every year for three months, staying at Badrutt’s Palace Hotel. He supported the club with his knowledge over many years. He used to take a caddie out on the course, and they recall: «John Plant was something of the grand seigneur of golf. He was tall and good-looking and at 70 still had a handicap of five.» As golfing materials evolved, the caddies disappeared. Today most golf bags are made of light, water-repellent material and can easily be carried or mounted on a golf trolley – whether manual pull or electric. Caddies have all but disappeared from amateur golfing. In professional tournaments, caddies continue to be an important element of success, advising on the choice of club and reading the greens.

The St. Moritz Classic was held on the golf course in Samedan in 1988 and 1989. The best players on the Tour had come together to compete at some 1,700 metres above sea level. The 1988 winner was from New Zealand: with a four-round total of 285 strokes, Janice Arnold received prize money of CHF 9,000. In 1989 Kitrina Douglas from England won with 286 strokes and was able to take home CHF 10,500 in prize money.

Winter golf in St. Moritz! 75 years passed from the idea to its realisation. The first tournament on snow took place in 1979 on the frozen Lake St. Moritz. Golf can be played all year round like almost no other outdoor sport. The former resort manager, Peter Kasper, took up the idea from 1904 and turned it into reality – with success. Luminous balls are almost a must, the greens are white and there is a whole lot of snow around: that’s winter golf. The «whites» need a lot of manual work to make the surface around the hole compact and as true as possible. Winter golf has been played every January since 1979. Originally at Lake St. Moritz, in Silvaplana since 1996, it is very popular with players and spectators alike.

This is a very apt comparison when it comes to the two courses. Both courses – Samedan and Zuoz-Madulain – leave nothing to be desired for the discerning golfer. Standing on the terrace of the Samedan Golf Course, which was opened in 1893, one is easily overwhelmed. The view across the Flaz river plain to a unique mountain panorama makes the visitor forget for a moment why he came here. The utterly flat golf course – with its larch trees, some of which are over 700 years old, their tops tousled by storms and lightning strikes, and with the many small streams and little lakes – makes it very tempting to try some power golf. But overconfidence here is rarely a good thing. All the greens are well defended. Not just by bunkers, but also by trees or bushes and a lot of water. Accurate approach shots are called for along with a bit of savvy. And when the Maloja wind blows from noon on, the golfer needs to summon his last reserves of strength to complete a course that suddenly feels so much longer. Strength is also needed at the golf course in Zuoz-Madulain, which opened in 2003. In contrast to Samedan, this course involves constant slight ups-and-downs, and takes a certain degree of fitness, not just because of the varied course design. But here too it is important to use your head. Which is sometimes not easy when you keep getting distracted all over again by the fabulous views of the Engadine mountains or the historic villages of Zuoz and Madulain.

Belonging, making friends and enjoying a round or two! Blackballing was the name English clubs once gave to the admission process for new members. A jury voted on each membership application by dropping black and white balls into an urn. It took just a single black ball – and the candidate was rejected. Of course this is no longer done today, especially not in the Engadine Golf Club. But membership of a club is now back in fashion again. Membership of the Engadine Golf Club offers a good network, not just for playing golf, but also for meeting friends. Of the 1,250 or so members, some 70% are active golfers in 2018, including 140 juniors. In addition to the many sporting tournaments, club life is also a social affair: each summer, the Ladies, Seniors and Juniors sections offer a wide range of events to help people to meet and mix or do something together, besides playing golf. Courses and taster days supply basic information about playing golf and choosing the right club for the shot. Anyone who’s heard the short «thwack» of a perfectly hit ball can’t help but be infected with the golf bug. Welcome to the Club!

In 2015, the Engadine Golf Club decided to celebrate its 125th anniversary by launching a new sustainability project. The idea was to plant 125 larches on the two golf courses in Samedan and Zuoz-Madulain by the Anniversary, to ensure the survival of the tree population and the uniqueness of the two golf courses. The trees are a particularly prominent feature of the 18-hole championship course in Samedan. The particular lines of sight and swing angles around the larches have sometimes forced golfers to make an unintentional ‘chip’ or ‘roll ball’. Depending on the position of the golf ball, the trees may mean that a player is unable to reach the green or even the fairway with a clean swing. Members and guests were invited to buy a larch so that it could be planted in their name. The project met with an overwhelming response, with all 125 trees sold and ready to plant within a single golfing season. The 125th larch was planted in spring 2017, and now all the larches are delighting the golfers – some less so, no doubt, depending on where the golf ball lands.