Golf | Money ball
Golf is an expensive sportand the advantage of financial backing is immeasurable
It’s the Rolex annual awards dinner for amateur golfers at the Chandigarh Golf Academy in late 2011. Among the invitees are city residents Sujjan Singh, a professional golfer, and his wife Irina. Irina Brar, as she was known before marriage, dominated Indian women’s golf for about a decade till 2008 when back-related issues forced her to quit. Now settled into matrimony, a visibly pregnant Irina is enjoying the evening. Dilip Thomas, a senior functionary of the Indian Golf Union and a well-known benefactor of golf in the country, drops by her table. “So, when is the due date?” he asks. “8 May,” replies Irina.
“Really! Same day as my father’s birthday and he was one of the finest men I have known. I would like to be this baby’s godfather,” says Thomas. “That’s very well but why don’t you sponsor Sujjan instead,” laughs Irina. A month later Singh is sporting the AVT (AV Thomas group of companies) logo on his golf shirts. This despite the fact that his daughter arrived a week late on 15 May.
“The advantage of having financial backing is immeasurable,” says Singh, whose playing expenses within the country and Asia are taken care of. It doesn’t end there. Singh, along with Chiragh Kumar, did a putting stint with coach Phil Kenyon in Manchester in 2012. Thomas footed the bill. “I would say half of what I’m today is because of AVT,” says Kumar, India No.1 in 2011. His sponsorship deal was the result of a dinner chat with Thomas at fellow-pro Joseph Chakola’s place in Coimbatore six years ago. The AVT team also has Shankar Das, Rahil Gangjee and Digvijay Singh. “A lot of this game is played in the head and money is a huge factor. It’s a different ball game when you have to make money to survive. Anybody who says otherwise is lying,” says Digvijay.
Let’s consider what it costs to play golf in these parts. In India, it’s close to ₹ 30,000 a week. This includes air fare, a twin-share hotel room, a caddie and incidentals like cabs and excess baggage, which is a regular expense with golf equipment. The figure comes down considerably if you live in the Delhi region since the majority of the tournaments are held there. As for others, given that there were 20-odd events on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) calendar last year, that would put expenses at around ₹ 6 lakh. Just to put things in perspective, Rahul Bajaj of Noida made a shade over that number in 2013 and was 36th on the order of merit. In all likelihood, the remaining 90 listed golfers did not break even if they didn’t have financial backing, and an overwhelming majority don’t. Not all glamour, is it?
Now the Asian Tour. Expenses average out to $2,000 (around ₹ 1.24 lakh) a week if you upgrade your playfield. About 25 events on the tour last season, with four in India. Exclude the home fixtures and that would again leave you with about 20 tournaments and a tab of $40,000. Three finance options here—rich father, earnings from the PGTI, sponsor. In most cases, it’s earnings or sponsor, or a combination of both.
Anirban Lahiri turned pro in 2007 and made about ₹ 13 lakh the following year on the PGTI. The Bangalore-based golfer ventured out to the continent the same year and ended up spending his winnings. “I was investing in myself. It was a fantastic learning experience.” There were times when his father, an armyman, was chipping in.
His first real test as somebody playing sport for a living came in the middle of 2008 during the PGTI Players Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Monsoon time, a wet course, and Lahiri had to finish well. “I had three events coming up on the Asian Tour with ₹ 50,000 in the bank. If I finished outside the top 10 I would have had to withdraw for lack of funds,” he recalls. He came second behind Gangjee.
Sri Lankan Mithun Perera, the in-form man on the PGTI, got away to a flyer with three top 10s in as many weeks when he came over to India in 2011. “That took the pressure off and changed my mindset,” he says. A couple of years prior, he came close to packing his bags and taking up a job in Dubai. Now a regular on the Asian Tour, Perera is backed by Dialog telecom, Kramski putters and Sri Lanka Ports Authority.
Mohammad Siddikur of Bangladesh, the reigning Indian Open champion, ran out of money in early 2010. When members at the Kurmitola Golf Club (Dhaka) pitched in with a round-trip ticket to India, Thailand and Malaysia, Siddikur made it count and finished the year with over $250,000 on the Asian Tour. Siddikur has Grameenphone, NovoAir, TaylorMade and Bridgestone as backers.
“Money is the only motivating factor,” says Lahiri. Either to pay bills or climb the order of merit. Finally, if you are good enough, to earn world ranking points. Driving a BMW or the like and a plush apartment are rare bonuses. Lahiri finished third on the Asian Tour in 2013, with $517,030 in earnings. He currently leads the PGTI rankings with over ₹ 11 lakh from two events. Lahiri has half-a-dozen sponsors in Hero (MotoCorp), Panasonic, Shubhkamna builders, Ballantine’s, Gati couriers and Srixon.
Perera, Siddikur and Lahiri have lucrative sponsorship deals at a time when they can very well afford to pay their own way. And therein lies the catch. While a fortunate few get somebody like Thomas to back potential talent, most brands are attracted to results. The stage matters too. Rashid Khan finished third, second and first on the PGTI in the last three years. No sponsors. That could change as he graduates to the more visible Asian Tour with his win at the SAIL-SBI Open on his home course at the Delhi Golf Club last week. At least, he hopes so.
Prabhdev Singh is the founding editor of Golf Digest India and a part-time golfer. Write to us at businessoflife@livemint.com
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First Published:5 Mar 2014, 07:16 PM IST
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