From class appeal to
mass appeal

With the inclusion of
golf as a sport in the 2016 Olympics, it has become a game to be
reckoned with in the global arena, and even in India. Rachna Singh
checks out if golf has the pizzazz to become a sport of choice for the
young

Chandigarhs Jeev Milkha Singh is an inspiration for many a budding golfer

Irina Brar is the only AASP-certified sports psychologist in India

A junior golf coaching camp in progress at the CGA golf range,
Chandigarh

All-India Amateur Junior Golf tournament in progress at the Army Golf Course, New Delhi
Tribune photographs

NOT so long ago the
constant refrain was "golf is for old fogies". Then there
was a paradigm shift and golf was decried as a lightweight sport for
the elite. Over the years, golf has subtly insinuated itself into the
global sports arena and we now have a long list of Indian golfers who
are not only playing international tours but also making a mark in
them.

Some disgruntled parents
often point out that golf is an expensive game limited to members of
various golf clubs, and has none of the accessibility of sports like
tennis, cricket or football. As Mina Singh, a parent, aggressively
points out: "What if I invest Rs 50,000 in a golf set and my son
does not take to the game? It would be throwing away good money."
Ronita Mahajan, another parent, resentfully says: "I am not a
member of any Golf Club in Chandigarh, which, in any case, requires a
huge membership fee and the waiting in a prestigious golf club is a
mind-boggling 10 years. Do I have to wait that long for my child to
play golf? I'd rather my child pursues football or cricket in
school".

Other parents rightly
point out that golf is not a school sport. Mannat Shergill says
matter-of-factly: "Schools like St John's have their own football
academy and cricket academy. Carmel Convent trains the girls in
football and basketball. But whenever the subject of golf is broached,
school authorities merely shake their heads regretfully, saying they
don't have enough space". Some schools like The British School at
Chandigarh and Khanna have taken the plunge but as a parent shrugs
"the football ground is used as a mini range for golf
practice."

Parents of aspiring
golfers also grudge the fact that no weightage is given to golfers
when they seek admissions to various colleges or schools. HS Bhadwal,
father of Gursimar Bhadwal, a national-level golfer, ruefully admits
that no credit was given for golf during Gursimar's admission to a
local college, although weightage was given for other sports like
netball. Mr Bhandari, father of Raghavi Bhandari, an upcoming amateur
golfer, criticises the system where professional colleges give
weightage to sports like ice-hockey but not to golf.

With so much stacked up
against aspiring golfers, it is a wonder that so many youngsters are
being drawn to competitive golf. Even a small city like Chandigarh has
thrown up golfers of national and international repute. In the
professional circuit we have big names like Jeev Milkha Singh, Harmeet
Kahlon and Harinder Gupta. On the amateur circuit we have Abhijit
Chadha, the Asian Games silver medalist. No wonder, CSR Reddy, General
Secretary, Chandigarh Golf Academy (CGA), proudly claims,
"Chandigarh is a nursery of golfers".

Lure of golf

So what attracts the
youngsters to golf? First, of course, is the fact that a large number
of golf gourses have come up all over the country. At the last count
there were 300 courses in the country. Chandigarh boasts of as many as
five courses. Apart from the 18-hole courses, there is a nine-hole
Emmar course as well as the recently opened Forest Hill Course. Emmar
encourages children to play and does not limit accessibility to
members. Chandigarh Golf Course (CGC) has also taken on board student
members. Colonel Baidwan of CGC informs that the course has fixed time
slots for juniors when they can play without paying the green fees.

Apart from that, most
golf courses have their own in-house training academies. The Academy
of Golf at the CGC is run by the well-known golfer Harmeet Kahlon and
golf coach Manjit Kochhar. The National Golf Academy director, Jessie
Grewal trains juniors, amateurs as well as leisure golfers at the CGA.
One often sees Jeev Milkha and other professional golfers like Sujjan
Singh practising in this range. This inspires budding golfers to give
the game "their best shot".

Warming up to the
subject, Reddy touches upon the various initiatives taken by the CGA
to popularise golf. Regular camps to train juniors and tournaments to
hone their competitive spirit are held throughout the year. The CGA,
in partnership with Callaway, provides junior golf sets on hire at
nominal rates. CGA's school-to-range programme allows children from
various schools to explore the golf facilities at the CGA and enroll
in a training camp if the sport catches their fancy. The Chandigarh
Golf Club had also started the 2016 Olympics initiative wherein golf
tournaments are organised with the objective of zeroing in on young
talent for the forthcoming Olympics.

Changing face of golf

Manjit Singh, president
Indian Golf Union (IGU), decisively sets out a road map to popularise
golf. According to Manjit Singh, the IGU has taken golf to eight
schools in New Delhi and Noida. Camps to train juniors and
underprivileged gifted golfers were also being held in small towns
like Lucknow and Ludhiana and coaches were sent there at IGU's
expense.

There are, of course,
still detractors who cynically point out that India has no fitness
trainers or sports psychologists. But there is news for them.
Chandigarh boasts of the only Applied Association of Sports Psychology
(AASP)-certified sports psychologist in India in our very own Irina
Brar, the well-known golfer. Holistic golf training, which includes
fitness training and course strategising, is taken care of by Jessie
Grewal at the CGA. The National Academy of Golf, housed in the CGA,
also runs an accredited programme for teaching professionals in the
country and has on board experts like Nonita Lall, Jasjit Singh,
Anitya Chand and Romit Bose.

With so much on offer,
it is no wonder that golf is being picked up by youngsters with gusto.
Live coverage on television of international tours adds to the
enthusiasm of youngsters who get to see Tiger Woods, Ernie Els and
Jeev Milkha slug it out in the tournaments. Magazines like Golf Digest
give an added dimension to the game as do the newspapers whose sports
page invariably covers golf.

Popular appeal

The million-dollar
question is whether these inputs are enough to create mass appeal.
"More ranges and courses open to the public would generate mass
appeal and large-scale popularity for the game," says Jessie
Grewal. "We have shown significant improvement in the quality of
the game but what we need is more accessibility to golf courses and
ranges," he adds. Irina Brar, concurs wholeheartedly and believes
that public golf courses and driving ranges would give the right
impetus to catapult golf to a sport with mass appeal. The IGU
president has some heartening news on this subject. Manjit Singh says
that state governments have been approached for lease of land to
establish golf ranges all over the country.

Irina Brar adds that
golf should be made a part of the school curriculum and parents and
children must be educated about long-term career options in golf. Most
parents are unaware that the income from prize money alone in golf
touches an eight-digit figure in US dollars. Also, big companies like
Toyota, Rolex and Usha have come on board to sponsor golf tournaments.

Golf, clearly, has a
bright and rich future in India. It has all the makings of a sport
which will soon give cricket, with its mass-appeal perch, tough
competition. The golf brigade is here.

Bridging the divide

From being a game of the
rich and famous golf has morphed into a sport that is indifferent to
class divide. The golf brigade of Jeev Milkha, Chirag Kumar, Shiv
Kapur, Chowrasia and Harinder Gupta come from different walks of life
and different economic strata. Women have also succumbed to the lure
of golf and have taken up the sport in a big way. The Bangalore golfer
Sharmila Nicolett brought laurels to the country when she qualified
for the European tour recently. The young brigade of Syed Saqib,
Piyush Sangwan and Chandigarh lads Karandeep Kochar and Adil Bedi are
raring to burn the greens. Today there are an estimated 50,000 active
golfers in India and 450 juniors playing competitive golf. An IPL-style
Louise Phillipe Golf tournament commencing in March is indicative of
the widespread popularity of golf.