After a long time I walked nearly eight holes as part of the gallery at a golf tournament this weekend. It was a good sunny afternoon, a decent crowd of people and lots of learners who were there to get a sense of the game from the pros. The very able and talented SSP Chowrasia won the tournament with prominent display of experience and grit in a three way playoff.
With this win Chowrasia's earnings soar. He started with almost no money in his pocket at the Royal Calcutta, a Golf Club. It transformed his life. I first saw his prowess when he won the Avantha Masters, a European Tour tournament. His calm and method is seasoned to any good global golfer. This is Chowrasia's 3rd international win. It's the 64th win by an Indian at the international level. It was the 49th title triumph by an Indian on the Asian circuit. Indians now have 5 international titles in 2014. Asian Tour: Anirban Lahiri (2), Rashid Khan (1), SSP Chowrasia (1); Asian Development Tour: Chikkarangappa (1).
Another young golfer wowed the Delhi audiences. Shubhankar Sharma, all of 18 years old led the Asian Tour Panasonic Open for several holes of the final day.
This is the quality of golf we in India are beginning to play. There is a changed story. And the players are reflecting it. Just ten days ago Anirban Lahiri won the Macau Open in another display of great Indian golf showcased to the world. Over this weekend Simi Mehra has performed brilliantly in China.
The sport is out there to explore new opportunities, ideas, technology, innovation and with some drive to change, India can only benefit. There are several new courses coming up in National Capital Region. I see south of India is investing heavily in smaller courses- albeit set around real estate firms - and they will eventually encourage the sport.
A new mindset is an important milestone in ensuring that golf remains an evolving sport in the light of economic challenges, the cricket frontier and even the long format of the game. Interestingly enough, the confluence of business and golf makes it an exciting sport which lends itself to much more opportunities to grow it for the average person. While pros turn icons, there is great reason to believe new and good courses and academies can help in taking to the young executives. Give office goers a chance at hitting some golf balls in a simulator during lunch break and be sure it will be a great stress buster.
As a business journalist I have interviewed over three hundred global and Indian executives on what they learn from the game. There is no argument about whether this game is like meditation and sharpens the mind. If corporations go beyond sponsorship and are seen promoting the sport, golf consumption promises to ride a new generation and a new wave. Add to that how new technology and ideas are helping popularise it and just what kind of new environment friendly efforts are improving the cost-benefit analysis for the game.
A recent conference concluded that the 18-30 age group is actually reflecting a complete changed consumer behaviour, the kind that suggests that golf not only appeals to this age bracket but also may depend on them to grow the sport across the world. I for one have long been an advocate of 'young golf'.
This can be the real story of Indian golf. It's not going to be elite. It's not pretentious. If India is among the countries along with that promise to resurrect the game's economics, then we have to be a player in the part. I am only too happy to note that young cricketers are also taking to it in a big way.
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