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Golf

India’s first residential golf academy will help the talent pool seek greener pastures, writes Mobile ESPN’s Abhishek Dinman.

There could not have been a better place to start India's first golf academy. The hometown of Asia's No. 1 star Jeev Milkha Singh, the base of a plethora of professionals criss-crossing the Asian Tour, it was only in the fitness of things that Indian Golf Union chose Chandigarh to house its dream project.

Golf in India is big business. The success of Jeev, he is currently No. 44 in the world, has given the sport a huge facelift. The National Golf Academy of India at the Chandigarh Golf Club is just the step in the right direction to tap the huge talent pool available and make more Jeevs in the future.

Producing future stars is not only about playing 18 holes every day. It is much more than that. The Jeevs, the Atwals, the Kapurs and the Randhawas play the world sport almost round the year. So who will train the kids? This is exactly where the NGAI should triumph in its gameplan.

The focus of the NGAI will be to train and groom professional coaches. The IGU realised a few years ago it needed an institution to train the teaching professionals who crucial to the game's development. The world was all ears and it was just a matter of time when dreams gained wings.

When there is a will, there's a way and Donato De Ponziano, the vice-president of the Professional Golf Association of Europe and an eminent teacher, was roped in to start the coaches' programme. The R&A, the world's rules and development body, agreed to support the programme by financing Ponziano's trip to India. The Chandigarh project has received £150,000 from The R&A since 2000.

The R&A takes its name from The Royal and Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews. The organizers of The Open Championship, R&A invests an annual surplus through the R&A Foundation into grass roots development projects around the world.

Particular emphasis is placed on the encouragement of junior golf, on the development of the game in emerging golfing nations, on coaching and the provision of open-to-all courses and practice facilities.

The R&A also provides best practice guidance on all aspects of golf course management, with specific reference to ecological and conservation issues, to help the growth of the game in a commercially and environmentally sustainable way.

In Chandigarh, Keith Hodgkinson, the chairman of the development committee, R&A, said: "The main function of the set up is to raise the standard of coaching. Traditionally, until a few years ago, most of the coaches were coming out of the caddie ranks and they hadn't really been natural golfers and hadn't been taught how to coach. They hadn't been taught the modern methods of the game, the basic techniques.

"So this is about getting the coaches, who are not educated, to start to achieve certification at all levels so when the coaches go to the practice range with their pupils, they've got basic knowledge, going all the way up from apprentice to A-class pros. They will help and accelerate the development of players in return."

Hodgkinson went on to add: "We see India as a country with huge potential. We are committed to provide financial, technical and any other help needed to promote the sport."

The Chandigarh academy will play Good Samaritan. It will not only cater to India, but accommodate training needs of Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal as well. Till date, over 200 teaching professionals have qualified in various categories, a signal that augurs well for the beautiful game.

The academy will certainly be changing lives. Take S. Sridhar for instance. Coping successfully with life's annoyances and frustrations can sometimes be the most difficult skill a caddie has to learn on the greens. If one's not careful, morbid desires like ending one's life can seep in even before one has reached the midcourse. Sridhar found himself bullying his way through each hole, giving himself stern lecture about how he had reached a point of no return. Then, life hit an "eagle." The NGAI was born.

There were tears of joy in the 35-year-old's eyes as he recollected the trying times. "I've been playing golf for the past 18 years. I joined this programme for ‘teaching professionals' for the first time in 2004. Before that, my situation was very bad. I was hardly earning 10,000 rupees in a year. I am married and have two children. Three times I attempted suicide because of the financial crunch. Now, this programme has changed my life.

"I've learned so many things and this programme has given me a chance to teach. Now I'm earning 30 thousands per month through coaching." Sridhar is just one such happy soul. Par for the course, literally.