BackMaking the move to newer pastures
A shift in venue has been great for the country's premier golf tournament
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The Hero Indian Open had taken root in and around Delhi. For 11 of the past dozen years the tournament has nestled at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC), the exception being 2009, when the DLF Golf and Country Club in neighbouring Gurgaon was the venue. That year, C. Muniyappa surprised himself and many others with a home win, the last so far. Almost as if to honour that effort, the event made a big move to Muniyappa’s home club, the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) course, in Bangalore last week. Apparently, the dislodging and replanting, temporary as it is, wasn’t easy.
The KGA was a befitting alternative to the DGC. Fairways like thick carpets, greens rolling fast and true, and the overall picture a visual delight. Varieties of palms, lots of water bodies (one of them home to swans), and splashes of orange from African tulip trees. It looked good on TV too, the shades of green contrasting beautifully with the blue dye introduced in the water. Bangalore’s well-known temperate climate delivered on cue. Except for a short vicious burst on Day 2, most of the tournament was played in cool weather under cloudy skies, with the sun making its way through occasionally.
Club members were thrilled, the turnout was large and the enthusiasm palpable. No protests either for the course being shut for a week before the event or the members being asked to play off mats in the build-up to D-Day. “We didn’t mind at all. It is a matter of prestige for us that the Indian Open has come to the KGA," said Renuka Philip, on marshal duty for the week. “We are better than the DGC, which is just bushes. Look how pretty our course is!" she couldn’t help but throw in.
There was appreciation for Harshada Abhyankar Bhagavati, the slightly built 33-year-old golf course superintendent who, like most of her ilk, preferred to stay in the background and let the work speak. Howard Swan, entrusted with upgrading and remodelling the KGA, made it a point to fly down from England for Open week. “It doesn’t matter what I feel but what the players have to say is endorsement of my work here," he says.
The players actually welcomed the change from unforgiving thicket, and no less a DGC member than Shiv Kapur came out quite strongly in favour of the change. “The KGA is a worthy venue. The golf course is set up amazingly. There is a fine line between being too easy or too tough and these guys have struck the perfect balance." Kapur was in pretty good balance himself, being the best Indian finisher in fourth place, just a couple of shots behind Richie Ramsay of Scotland and the venerable Thai, Thaworn Wiratchant, the winner in a very dramatic play-off. “The DGC has had its fair share of the tournament. I feel they will value it more if they get it once in five years," Kapur added.
The Indian Golf Union (IGU), which owns the tournament, lists promotion and development of golf as its key objective. That was well served with the turnout of junior golfers on the course and the scramble at the driving range for lessons from Ramsay and big draw Peter Hanson. Tiya Chowdary, all of 9, hit the ball way above her body weight and the pleasant Scot singled her out for praise. There was a slight stance and grip adjustment. “I can’t make the changes before a tournament…" Chowdary added as an afterthought. Ramsay concurred. Next to her, Krishang Nayak, also 9, had his grandfather worried. The family business will need an heir, somebody to continue the metal packaging factory. As of now, Nayak feels he has a better chance of getting that Ferrari as a golfer.
IGU Council south zone member Dilip Thomas was all smiles. “It has been 24 years of hard work. It was a dream to get the Indian Open to the south and I didn’t see any reason why the KGA could not host it," he said. As for IGU’s objective, there has been a tenfold increase in the number of junior golfers in the past five years. Hundreds of children are now playing the game in the southern part of the country, he says. The big change is visible from when north India had the numbers and quality in terms of golfers. Local boys Anirban Lahiri (one of the pre-tournament favourites) finished tied fifth and S. Chikkarangappa took the amateur trophy with an impressive three-under 281 total.
A change for the better was expected when a former competitive golfer took over as IGU president last year. Manjit Singh zeroed in on the grass roots, and on taking their biggest event to new places. Junior golf was separated from the sub-juniors and now the five IGU zones (army, north, south, east and west) have about eight events each in the sub-junior category, giving budding golfers many more opportunities to play and get better.
As for the Indian Open travelling, it took work to get all the parties concerned to the table. The event has come a long way from when the IGU and the host club members ran the show. Members received players at the airport and put them up in their homes. Prize money would be put together, sometimes at the last minute, with contributions from generous golf-minded companies and industrialists.
There were five principal players in Bangalore—Hero, the Asian Tour, KGA, event managers Nimbus Sport and the IGU. A meeting was held earlier in May in that city and opinions were divided on the choice of the new venue. Issues ranged from the suitability of the golf course itself, the changing rooms, the size of the practice range, to international flight connections to Bangalore. And, of course, a market for motorcycles. The sponsor finally gave the go-ahead.
Singh came up with a proposal to announce the Indian Open venue three years in advance so that all concerned have enough time to prepare. The popular sentimental choice for next year is the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (the 50th Indian Open), followed by the Oxford Golf and Country Club in Pune. It remains to be seen what Pawan Munjal, CEO and managing director, Hero MotoCorp Ltd, has to say on the matter.
Prabhdev Singh is the founding editor of Golf Digest India and a part-time golfer.
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