Jorhat, Aug. 4: It began as a watering hole for British tea planters looking for a way to break the monotony of their lives without having to go far. Today, 120 years later, the Jorhat Gymkhana Club is claiming a place in Unesco?s list of World Heritage Sites.

The club?s portfolio is an impressive one by any standard. It has the world?s third oldest golf course, after St Andrews in Scotland and the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Apart from the sprawling 18-hole course, the club has a unique tradition of pony racing, an annual event that has come to be known as the Jorhat Races.

The first aeroplane ever to land in the Northeast did so at the club grounds in 1928, when Bernard Leete, the owner-pilot of the plane, came to Jorhat at the request of A.C. Tunstel of the Tocklai Experimental Station, who wanted to take his ailing wife to Calcutta for treatment. The first jeep to be brought to Assam in 1945 was also displayed at the club ground.

Arup Borthakur, a member of the management committee, said Delhi had already moved Unesco for the club?s inclusion in the roster of World Heritage Sites. Assam now has two such sites, Kaziranga National Park and Manas National Park.

The idea of setting up a gymkhana club was conceived in 1874 by J. Huttman, the then superintendent of the Jorhat Tea Company, in the company of a few other British planters bored with lonely evenings. But it was not until 1876 that the idea was translated into reality in the form of the Jorhat Gymkhana Club. More than a century later, the club remains a major draw for tea garden executives based in Upper Assam.

It was at this very club that former Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru delivered a stirring speech on December 15, 1937, pleading with world leaders to back the movement for Independence. The Duke of Edinburgh, Prince Philip, visited the club on December 16, 1960.

Borthakur said the club campus, spanning 180 bighas, had been maintained well over the years despite the tea industry battling a recession. The club has nine permanent employees, including a manager and caretakers. The management committee spends nearly Rs 85,000 every month on maintaining the golf course, the swimming pool and the main structure.

The membership is a mere 200, which necessitates a high fee structure. ?It is becoming difficult to maintain such a huge building, a sprawling golf course, tennis courts and the swimming pool with just the yearly membership fees. Declaring the club a World Heritage Site will bring in funds,? Borthakur said.

Some British tourists visited the club recently and went back impressed.

?They were all most excited by the experience. The group spent several hours at the club although they had just come for a few drinks,? Borthakur said.

The club hosted the Tea Tourism Festival in 2002, attracting several dignitaries and groups of foreign tourists.