Another face to Golf?

The state of golf in Chennai is very ambiguous. This condition of imbalance arises because on one side, you find a significant bunch of Koreans and golf enthusiasts from other countries frequenting the Chennai golf course and on the other hand you find players at the college and university level feeling there is no exposure, popularity and opportunities in the sport in Chennai.

According to Rayon John, one of the coaches in the driving range of Chennai course, there are about 100 Korean golfers in Chennai who have taken up the sport very seriously. One can effortlessly spot 10-12 of them enjoying playing the sport. Golf in Chennai, has been augmented to a great extent by these golf enthusiasts in the city. The heat in the ground doesn’t seem to matter to them. Kim, who practices regularly, says, “Even though it gets very hot during the afternoons, I love to play the game, so I don’t mind the heat”.

38 of the top 100 female golfers in the world are Koreans, which shows the popularity of the sport in the country. “Korean women are very determined to do well, and put in a lot of effort. Their parents encourage them a lot to take up the sport,” says Kim, who is in the automobile industry and is a keen golfer.

However, on the desi front, it is a whole different story altogether. Since golf is a rare sport by itself in India, it is even rarer to find women playing the sport in Chennai. It is a very popular, spirited and competitive sport internationally. But sadly in India, it is rare and uncommon. If that is the state in the men’s category, one can only imagine how it is for women.

Shebani Bhaskar, a 19-year-old city golfer says, “Compared to the strength in number of women golfers in Delhi, Kolkata, Chandigarh, and Gurgaon, Chennai is, to a large extent, lagging behind.”

Discussing the reason behind such a conclusion, she shares, “I was 11 when I started playing golf and it was in Kolkata. There used to be so many camps and clubs for juniors and seniors back then. And as the age categories went up, I saw more women participating there. The competition is pretty tough with girls from Delhi and Chandigarh. But here in Chennai, it is sad that there is not a single tournament conducted for women at the university or college level.”

There are about 10 tournaments held for amateurs across India and some of the notable ones include the Army open and All India tournaments, south (and other) zones, etc. There are only a handful of women golfers you can find in the city.

Shebani adds, “The calendar for the year will be set, showing the schedules of all tournaments. By the end of the year, the All India tournament is conducted wherein the top 16 players across the nation compete. These 16 players are selected based on their performance in the tournaments held throughout the year.”

Nivedita. S, another city golfer she says, “The main two reasons for this are- one, there are only two golf courses in this whole city that makes it hardly popular. And two, golf is a pretty expensive game. There are coaches who charge about Rs. 600 per session.”

With such two differently versioned realities about, one can only hope to see some lucidity in the near future.