A history by Thomas (Tommy) Fjastad

September 1991 -Dr Wilhelm Meister invited me to Leisure Lodge and asked if I could design and build an 18 hole Championship golf course. This was a challenge I could not refuse. I had just completed construction of the Windsor Golf & Country Club course, designed by Tom Macauley of Ireland.May 1992 -Mobilisation of heavy earth moving equipment and trucks by Silanga Ltd. headed by Brian Haworth - very experienced in earth moving. John Saunders of Silanga Ltd., designed and installed the all important reticulation system.

The land on which we were to build was mainly coral outcrops. The only fertile part was the western area, used by local inhabitants to grow coconuts, cashew nuts and mangoes. The wonderful indigenous trees were carefully incorporated in the design, in particular the baobab trees. To fill the large areas without soil a barren farm some 12 km away was purchased. Working with two Caterpillar D8s and a front loader able to load a 9-ton truck in 4 minutes, we moved nearly 1,000 tons a day.
This was carefully offloaded along the length and breadth of each fairway shifting a total of 100,000 tons of soil. We then moved the fleet to the areas with sand for construction of the greens. Each green (USGA specs.) required between 450 and 600 tons of sand. Sand was also required to fill the 88 bunkers around the course -some 15,000 tons. We then transported 80 truck loads of well composted coconut coir for mixing with the greens rootzone.

At the southern end of the course was a large hollow, excavated to provide material for road construction. This site was ideal for creating a Par 3 with a lake, now Lake Wilhelm. This name was suggested by member Gerhard Matthiesen. We expanded the existing hollow, having to blast some of the iron-hard coral. The bulldozers worked away, with the spoils going to make hills, mounds and tees around the course. Once excavation was complete John Jordan, an expert in laying waterproof membrane, was brought in to seal the bottom of the lake and create shallower areas for aquatic plants and the two islands for bird life, and the peninsular which is now the 15th green. This exercise was completed and the lake filled in early 1994.

Not satisfied with one water feature I identified an area for a second lake, on the finishing 18th hole. This was excavated, producing more material for mounds, hills and tees. A Singh fundi, known to us as Digi Digi, built the bridge across the centre of the lake which awaits lining and filling. On completion, Crocodile Lake will be the habitat for the three crocodiles at present residing at the hotel area.

A vast amount of labour was used for the many ongoing tasks, but one mound was being avoided.

I noticed the bush was not being cleared. It was then disclosed that a shaitani (devil) existed in the huge cave at the bottom of this mound which, it is said, comes out at the shoreline where the Hotel Club Restaurant is situated. In order to solve the impasse we had to arrange for the elders - led by one known as Pepo (wind) - to meet in the cave late at night when the moon was in the correct position. Of course, funds had to be provided for the elders to feast the night out and nullify the large, serpentine shaitani. Nobody was allowed to enter this area for a full month whilst this was on going. Finally the elders declared the area free of all things nasty and work was allowed to resume on the mound where the men's and ladies' No. 3 tee is now situated.

To irrigate the golf course, deep wells were drilled into subterranean rivers flowing to the ocean, hence although 1.5 million litres of water are pumped up daily, the water table is not affected.

During construction, Dr Meister frequently sought my assurance that the golf course would be of the highest standard because, for the inaugural tournament, he would invite the German professional golfer Bernhard Langer and the footballer Franz Beckenbauer as chief guests. The official opening Gala Dinner was to be held in the area of the 15th tee alongside Lake Wilhelm, with an orchestra from Austria playing across the water from the 15th green. The date of the Gala Dinner would, of course, coincide with a full moon. So meticulous was Dr Wilhelm's attention to detail.

This tournament was to have been called the South Coast Leisure Masters. Later it was suggested that Diani Beach be included in the title, and thus was born the now well known Diani Beach Masters.

Though not a golfer himself, Dr Meister saw the future in golfing tourism in the Diani area. However, in February 1993 he requested that I return to Nairobi with him in his Dornier 16-seater passenger plane. During this flight, he revealed that he had been diagnosed with cancer. He was going to Germany and might never return. He died peacefully at his residence in Munich on 30 June 1993 and sadly never saw the completed golf course. I planted a baobab tree in his memory on the first fairway.

Progress on the golf course was temporarily stopped, but it was maintained as it was now possible to play 14 holes of golf, and when funds were available, we continued with its completion. 30 months elapsed before Bains Construction was commissioned, in May 1996, to complete construction of holes 4, 5, 6 and 7. All heavy work was finished in early 1997.

The new owners of the hotel -the Kantaria family -wanted the course completed. The inauguration ceremony was held on 12th May 1998, when the Minister for Tourism, the Hon. Katana Ngala planted a baobab tree outside the Club House. A plaque is implanted on a coral rock at the base of the baobab.