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One of India's prime golfers Shiv Kapur has been all praise to Kashmir for its beautiful and safe environment for playing golf. He has said that Kashmir is safer than Delhi and he would love to visit the place frequently.
On the closing ceremony of the 7th J&K Golf Association tournament which was held at Royal Springs Golf Course, Srinagar, Kapur enjoyed witnessing golf action in the natural scenes and said he feels no threat to be here,
“Last year it was my first visit to Kashmir as part of coaching clinic in Srinagar. During that trip, I visited almost all the areas as well as Old City without any security. I roamed freely in the whole city, had tea on the roadside and never felt any type of threat. My last visit encouraged me to bring my one-year-old daughter with me this time to Kashmir. If there would be any level of threat, then I would never have done that,” Kapur quoted saying to Greater Kashmir (a Kashmir based Newspaper) on Friday.
The 2002 Asian Games gold medalist, Shiv Kapur feels that media is diverting the public else conditions are calm and Kashmir is a safe place to visit,
"Personally, after my two trips to Kashmir, having travelled to many countries in the world, I can say it with authority that Kashmir is safe and even safer than Delhi for tourists. Whatever negative perception I have found, it is only in media. At ground level, the situation is entirely different,” Kapur said.
Kapur holds the overall world rank of 255 and has been part of some mega events including the US Open, Volvo Masters of Asia etc. He further praised the golf courses of Kashmir and claimed that they are among the best in the world, which many people don't know,
“I have already said it last year that Royal Springs Golf Course (RSGC) is the best in entire Asia and after seeing Lidder Valley Golf Course in Pahalgam this time, I am in awe of that as well. The Kashmir courses are the best and I am saying this after being to some of the best and beautiful courses around the World,” Kapur said.
“Not many people in India are aware that Kashmir has got such beautiful and well-maintained golf courses. In India the beauty and natural scenery of these courses are unmatched and J&K Government should promote its golf courses in a big way around the country and the world,” he added.
Kapur also thirsted on removing the tag of 'elite-sport' from Golf and advised people to take up this sport,
“Without the involvement of youth and masses, golf will remain in its current perspective of being ‘Elite Sport’. There is a need for involving youth in the sport and making it everybody’s game. Once the ‘Elite Sport’ tag will be removed, the game will in itself prosper,” he suggested.
