Greetings RSGC Lady Golfers!
T his is my last Lady Golf Captain’s Corner for my term. I thought I would leave you with a little story about the history of the RSGC Ladies.
Our club founders established the ladies’ handicap in 1896, championing inclusivity long before it became the norm, and the first ladies’ competition was held in 1897. Oddly enough it was the men, not the ladies themselves, who were responsible for the founding of the Selangor Ladies Golf Club, as it was then named. In most clubs there is a ladies’ section but the competitions are often controlled by the committee of the club themselves, one of the ladies being co-opted to the committee to advise and act as a liaison. It was not until 1920 that the club’s Honorary Secretary suggested that the ladies be encouraged and empowered to form a committee of their own. The SLGC (now the LGS) came into being. It was at once affiliated with the Ladies Golf Union in Britain. The new body was authorised to appoint a committee, with a Captain as President or Chairman, and an honorary secretary who was to be a member of the committee. Ms McBride was elected as the first Captain of the ladies. The duties of the committee were defined as the running of all ladies’ competitions and control of their handicaps. The ladies have always, since they formed their club been very enthusiastic about competitions and club matches. Several trophy competitions were introduced. The Selangor Cup was presented by Mr. Jeffrey Gibb who was always a firm friend of the ladies in matters of golf. The Newboult Cup for the annual Foursome Matchplay competition was presented by Sir Alec Newboult the Chief Secretary to the Federation.
Over the years the ladies were not voting Members and were even not allowed to make comments or complaints in the suggestion book! However in 2007 Ladies were finally invited to become Ordinary Members of the club. The doors of opportunity have opened for ladies, they can even now run for the position of Captain of the club. So, this raises the question of whether there is a need for the ladies to have a separate vote for a Lady Golf Captain and Ladies Golf Section Committee.
It is envisioned that future Lady Captains will be ordinary members who will form a Sub Committee to oversee all ladies’ activities at the club, be it tennis, swimming, pickleball, etc. At the moment, we have about 900 lady ordinary members but the majority of this number are below 40 years of age. Generally, ladies of this age group are busy building their careers or growing their families. Very few will have time to spare for Club activities.
Until such time when there are more lady ordinary members who can offer their time to help in club activities, TC might want to consider enlisting the help of privileged persons including lady or spouse members.
TC has bandied about the term ‘gender neutrality’ moving forward. I am curious though, about what this actually means. I believe that it is TC’s intention to treat everyone equally. However noble this intention is, whatever is good for the gander is not necessarily good for the goose. We should be talking about equity rather than equality.
An easy and most relevant example of equity for us is the different teeing areas for different groups of people so everyone has the equal opportunity to enjoy the course. Equality would be for everyone to tee off at the same area. The ladies, seniors, and men with high handicaps will not enjoy the game as much as a young man with a low handicap if we all teed off from the blue tees. The handicapping system itself is about equity.
Club Morning
Our Club Morning for May saw a good turnout of 12 ladies for this bimonthly social outing, designed especially to welcome new members and beginner golfers. We introduce different game formats, teach them how to score and also remind the ladies about the Rules of Golf. This month the format chosen was Stableford. The draw certainly reflected our multinational Ladies Golf section with ladies from Korea, Japan, and Indonesia joining us. A nine-hole game ended with refreshments and prizes for the best scores. Do sign up for the next one.
RSGC vs SICC Home and Away
This year our home and away Interport games with the Singapore Island Country Club (SICC) were held only 2 weeks apart. Our home game saw 20 ladies representing SICC. Unfortunately the first day was rained out. On the second day our ladies beat the SICC ladies roundly with a score of 13 to 7. Travelling to SICC for our away game two weeks later carrying a home win, our ladies were all set for a fight to retain the Trophy. Unfortunately, we had a very small contingent of only 10 ladies this time, ably led by Stella Chau as the Team Captain. Mirroring our home outing, the first day at SICC was abandoned due to bad weather. However, the numbers did not lessen our spirit and we managed to hold them to a draw. Well done Ladies, we brought the Trophy back home! As always SICC hospitality was at its best and we look forward to meeting their ladies again at our Triangular Games in Hong Kong in October.
Farewell to Puan Sri Lee Eng Lin
It has been a sad couple of months for the Ladies as 2 Past Lady Captains have passed on, Raja Zakiah who was featured in last month’s Circular, and recently Puan Sri Lee Eng Lin, who, elected three times, was our longest-serving Lady Captain in total for 11 years. Her sister Eng Looi also served as our Lady Captain and the two were often seen together at the club. Eng Lin leaves as her legacy a Trophy in her name, the Puan Sri Lee Eng Lin Trophy. She was a much-loved and popular Lady Captain, and a very active part of the LGS. I would like to include a message here from her son Mark Lee Mun Tuck.
It is with sadness that I am writing to inform you that my mother, Puan Sri Lee Eng Lin, passed away peacefully at home last Friday, 9 May 2025. She had just turned 95. My elder brother, Lee Yong Tuck, and I were by her side. Having been a Member since the early 1960s with my late father, Tan Sri Lee Siew Yee, RSGC was like a second home to my mother. For over 40 years she lived and loved her golf at RSGC as an ordinary playing member as well as Lady Captain. She possibly holds the record for having been Lady Captain for more years in total than any other Lady Captain. She made many good friends at the Club, on and off the course. And together with other members of the Ladies Committee, she loved helping organise competitions at the Club, Inter-Club matches as well as the Ladies Open”.
On behalf of the RSGC Ladies Golf Section, I offer my heartfelt condolences to the family.
Ladies Changing Room Renovation
After years of putting up with leaks, no hot water, air-conditioning breakdowns, toilets unable to flush, and an overall two-star appearance unbefitting of a five-star golf club, a Resolution to rebuild our Changing Room will be presented at our club AGM on the 21st of June. It is critical that all Ordinary Lady Members register for this AGM and vote for the renovation. Meanwhile those who fall under the Privileged Persons category, please do convince your partners and children to support this resolution.
It has been my pleasure and privilege to be your Lady Golf Captain for the past two years. A big thank you to the LGSC and to all the RSGC Lady golfers for your support. Our Ladies Golf Section has always been admired and envied by other clubs for our many activities and social camaraderie, and I hope this will continue into the future.
That’s it from me Ai-leen Tan, who might well go down in history as the last privilege member to be Lady Golf Captain.
Happy Golfing all, and see you at the Club.
