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What will it take to make GOLF a bigger game in India?

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Posted by Dinesh Thakur 23 Nov 2009

Thanks to the Britishers, the game of Golf entered India through the Defense and the Government! However, for the past 60 years the growth of the game has been chocked due to the lack of Public or private Golf courses.  Thanks to the Indian forces, the game is open to civilians, even though most of the courses are on defense land.

Out of the 175 courses in India, about 150 courses are under the Defense or under governing Bodies which comprise of the high Government officials or very rich Business families. Leaving a handful of Public courses like Qutab Golf Course, Noida Golf Course etc with in the accessible range. Other private courses are way out of the Middle Class of India. Private Courses range between Rs. 2000 - Rs. 4000 on weekends. 

Now that Golf is part of the Olympics and is termed as a sport across the world, why should a Government official applying for a Membership of a Public course pay 5 times lesser than a Civilians? Will this sport continue to remain a privilage of the Government employees? 

Lets talk about the equipment! All good brand accessories and equipment are imported .... thus due to taxes, the Equipment becomes expensive. However, this is a chicken and an egg situation, should the courses come 1st or the manufaturers for the local market on assumptions of bigger numbers.  

Bodies like, IGU and PGTI have now picked up pace, but if we were to compare with countries like Thailand, China, Korea .... where there is serious government intervention, there is much more to be done. These bodies need continous support of the Government & Advertising brands who should not compare with Cricket all the time. This is a phase of investing in the game!

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    Dinesh Thakur 07 Sep 2010

    Total is a press conference by IGU on the team and plans for the forth coming Asian games ... The IGU graph seems to be going up... :-)

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    Vijay Wadnere 18 May 2010

    My thoughts turn towards the sponsors. As a general practice, sponsors chose a establish player to sponsor, where he/she may not need the sponsorship, alternatively they should pick the best of the newcomers and support them to establish as professionals. Support as in club fees/equipments etc. Once new students know that -if they demonstrate their talents, dedication they'd be picked up and can achieve greater goals, more talent will definitely turn in.

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    Dinesh Thakur 05 Dec 2009

    Ashokji well said and exactly my point! I am sure you will agree that it is the Middle class and the lower income class of this country which has helped the game of CRICKET to grow so big. Therefore, for the growth of this game, it is important that this game is made affordable for all classes. The Government Officials contribute to a very small number of Middle class. By restricting Golf courses to only members or asking for VERY HIGH green fees from Civilians is not going to help the growth. Interesting, lot of Golf courses have less than 25% of their members playing the game. Rest take the membership for club facilities for socialising and entertainment purposes, just the way DDA runs Shree Fort Sports complex ..... May be it is a good idea to run the Club facilities membership sepreate to the Golf course membership. In a nutshell, we need a lot many courses like Qutab Golf courses .... across the country ... :-)

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    Ashok Kumar Srivastava 04 Dec 2009

    Why should a Government official applying for a Membership of a Public course pay 5 times lesser than a Civilians? Will this sport continue to remain a privilage of the Government employees? Is this the topic of discussion here? Apparently not. I believe, there should be a special consideration for membership to golfers having qualified PGTI and achieved other such benchmarks, irrespective of their status/caste/creeed/govt. employees/civilians/economically sound/economically weak. Some caddies are also very good golfers, a fact which cannot be ignored. Such a clause, if already not there, shall be a shot in the arm of present Indian Golf Professionals and will go a long way in making Golf a bigger game in India. My assessment is that presently, there are almost eighty to ninety percent Golfers who are only weekend golfers, hardly possessing ability to compete in Professional Tournaments. What we really need is to extend priveliged facilities to promising and dedicated budding golfers at the Golf ranges. Golf equipments should be made available at a highly subsidised price. Golf Academy on the lines of Cricket and Hockey for such budding Golfers is the call of the day. Why can't some Corporate Giant sponsor such an Academy as the one "MRF ACADEMY FOR CRICKET".Golf should be recognised as a game for the sportpersons instead of it being branded as a game of "The Elite". We must get out of the "Britishers Attitude" and let the game reach far and wide to all golf lovers, just the way Cricket has penetrated into the life of Indians. Then and then only, we shall have more and more "GOLF TENDULKARS". Ashok Srivastava

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    Dinesh Thakur 03 Dec 2009

    Might not agree totally with you there, as there are examples of countries like Thailand & China where there is a clear effort to make Golf bigger. Comparitively, cricket is not a cheap game either .... its just that it has become a MASS game in India.... But yes, there need to be more accessable golf courses like Qutab etc....

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    Viren Razdan 26 Nov 2009

    What makes a Game big - if you draw from Soccer - its the access to the game - a ball - any playing field ...and a motivated set of people. The biggest 'pain point' to any golfer or enthusiast is the access in terms of equipment / infra. While enough 'policy' makers play this game - little happens in terms of developing access points. How many schools - really promote the game ? Club costs are a massive barrier- for youngsters to come in. The 'civilians' playing Golf - is a 'massey sahib' syndrome - throw open the doors to Golf. We have enough talent - but not coming in at the right age. Policy / Corporates / Schools have to create the culture - if nothing else - be the first movers.

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