1914 Foundation of the Dutch Golf Committee
The Dutch Golf Committee was founded in February 1914 as a result of an initiative by Gerard van Tets, in full Jonkheer Gerard Frederik van Tets van Goidschalxoord (he lived from 1875 to 1968).
On August 17, 1912, he wrote a letter on behalf of the Doornsche board to all Dutch golf club boards (at that time still to be counted on two hands) in which he called for the establishment of – and I quote –
“an authority placed above those boards” that had to take charge of the organization of golf matters “which, by their very nature, cannot be left to the volatile views of a single golf board.”
Of course, there is a whole story that precedes this, but let’s just say that the organization of the women’s championship of the Netherlands, or rather its cancellation in 1912, played an important role in writing Gerard van Tets’ letter.
At the top of the list of proposed activities, according to the archives of the Kennemer Golf Club: the organization of Dutch championships.
It was not until February 1914 that the matter was officially settled. And even longer before a competition was set up, according to the minutes from May 1920 of the Dutch Golf Committee:
“A competition will be played with teams of 8 players (ladies also do 18 men’s tees) who must be members of the club for which they play and may not play for another club in the same calendar year unless authorized by the Dutch Golf Committee.”
Finally, on February 11, 1914, the Foundation of the Dutch Golf Committee was founded by four golf clubs:
- the Doornsche Golfclub (now UGC De Pan);
- the Haagsche Golfclub;
- the Hilversumsche Golf Club;
- and the Kennemer Golf Club.
