Roya Club Golf Hall of fame

ROYAL CLUB GOLF HALL OF FAME

Living members:

Sir Michael Francis Bonallack

b. 31. 12. 1934

Excellent English golfer who won both 5 times in The Amateur Championship and 5 times in the English Amateur Championship. In 1959 as an amateur ranked 11th in The Open, 9x represented in the Walker Cup and 7x in the Eisenhower Trophy, i.e., at the world championships in golf. He worked as a long time secretary of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews and in 2000 he served as the Captain of this global institution. He is a member of Augusta National GC where US Masters is organised. Since 2000 he is a member of the World Golf Hall of Fame. Sir Michael is a big supporter and admirer of the RGCML course in Marianske Lazne. He significantly contributed in the efforts towards awarding our club the Royal title.

Alex Čejka jr.

b. 2. 12. 1970

A native of Marianske Lazne, began with golf here as a child. As the first Czech he earned the right to start on the European Tour and the US PGA Tour. He is the winner of several professional tournaments (Volvo Masters at Valderrama 1995, Tour España Masters and Hohe Brücke Open 1995, Lancôme Trophy 2002, Audi Open 1993). He represented Germany in the World Cup and Alfred Dunhill Cup and represented Europe in The Seve Trophy.

Jiří Dvořák

b. 9. 4. 1944

The single most revered Czechoslovak golf player of all time. He is a member of the Hall of Fame of Czech golf based on his outstanding sports results achieved in the period 1960 to 1979. In those years, he was clearly the king of Czech golf. He remains a model for other golfers, both due to his outstanding game as well as due to his personal demeanour. He won 24 titles of the Republic Champion, of which 13 were in Match play and 11 in Stroke play. For many years he worked as a golf course super intendant at our club, starting in the hardest years of recovery when the club took the golf course over from Marianske Lazne in 1990.

Ivan Lendl

b. 7. 3. 1960

One of the world's top tennis players of all time, who now focuses on golf. In the 80s he was the world's tennis number one, winner of Grand Slam tournaments (French Open, Australian Open and US Open). In Marianske Lazne he competed in professional golf tournaments of the European PGA Volvo Tour series – in the Czech Open 1994, 1995 and 1996. It promotes worldwide both our golf club and Czech golf as a whole.

Ing. Zbyněk Martinek

b. 3. 6. 1951

The first post-revolutionary Mayor of Marianske Lazne, Mr. Martinek is an admirer of our golf course. He significantly contributed to establishing and setting up the contracts between the town of Marianske Lazne and the golf club in early 90s. Based on these contracts the RGCML club has been operating the golf course and clubhouse successfully till today.

JUDr. Milan Veselý

b. 18. 6. 1950

He is a member of the Hall of Fame of Czech golf for his many years organising golf within and beyond the Czech Republic. From 1988 he served in the Committee of the Czechoslovak Golf Union, later to become the Czech Golf Federation (CGF). He ran CGF for 10 years as its President. He has been active in multiple roles for many years in the European Golf Association in Lausanne and The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews, where he is also a member. From 1990 to 1996 he served as President of our club and now serves in this function again since the club elections in 2012. He significantly contributed in efforts to secure the golf course in Marianske Lazne for our club as well as in efforts towards awarding RGCML the Royal title. He served as chairman of the organising committees of major sports events held in our club (European Amateur Championship 1993, European Tour Volvo - Czech Open 1994, 1995 and 1996, St. Andrews Trophy 2006).

Ing. Oldřich Tobrman

b. 17. 11. 1953

Oldrich Tobrman has been a member at RGCML since 1968, from 1974 he was also part of the VŠ Prague team which played their golf at RGCML until 1989. From 1989 both clubs joined and from 1990 Oldrich worked as the club treaserer. During this time Oldrich was responsable for gaining the lease agreement for the golf course from the town of Marianske Lazne. He worked as treasurer until 1997 when he was elected as our Club President in RGCML history, he held this position until 2012. During his time as Club President Oldrich obtained approval from Queen Elizabeth II. for us to using our Royal Golf Club title. He also over saw the construction and modernistaion of our clubhouse and additional facilities. He helped create financial stability within the golf club and maintained our good relationship with the town of Marianske Lazne.

Members who left for the golf heaven:

Lady Luisa Abrahams

The legendary grand Dame of European golf both before and after WWII. She is a member of the Hall of Fame of Czech golf for extraordinary sporting achievements and long-term activity in favour of Czech golf and especially of golf in Marianske Lazne. She played in our club in the 1930s under guidance of the coach Arthur Leese. In 1938 she won on our golf course the Czechoslovak Open Championship. She lived with her husband Lord Abrahams in London during the War, worked in the English army and later as member of the Czechoslovak Air Force in the UK she reached the rank of Major. The events of 1948 in Czechoslovakia had prevented her permanent return to her homeland, but she did visit Marianske Lazne regularly and developed a deep affection towards the place. She had always supported our club with great generosity till the end of her life, and contributed in crucial and decisive way in the effort towards awarding RGCML the Royal title.

Dr. Hermann Busch

Long-time President of GC Hamburg Ahrensburg and member of the board of the Hamburg Golf Association. He loved Marianske Lazne and was a great supporter of our club. Before 1989 he significantly helped the club by repeatedly providing material equipment for the game, later organised trips for youth and adult players to Germany. He also supported our golf club to great effect by providing his extensive knowledge and organisational skills in the operation of golf.

Hanuš Goldscheider

He is a member of the Hall of Fame of Czech golf for his life-long passionate work in support of golf. His outstanding service to Czech golf started in early 1950s when golf became illegal. In 1968 he co-founded the Czechoslovak Golf Association and remained among the leadership of Czech golf for many years until the end of his life. After the split of Czechoslovakia in 1993 he became the first President of the Czech Golf Federation. In 1990 he initiated the founding of PGA of the Czech Republic. Hanus Goldscheider, whom no one would call other than Goldy, was known throughout the golfing world. He was a long-time member of The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St. Andrews. He also served in the European Golf Association and in the Commission for the Amateur Status and R&A rules. Goldy was a great supporter and fan of our club.

Jiří Dvořák