A renowned sport psychologist, Dr Bob Rotella, who has dedicated his entire life to helping players’ emotions and minds to take them to top of their chosen path, said-“Golf is about how well you accept, respond to and score with your misses much more so than it is a game of your perfect shots.” Indeed!! The incomparable ecstasy of scoring a hole in one is enough to elucidate why travellers go for golf vacation over and over. For the grandeur, for the technical challenges, and the tendency for being played in beautiful, widespread surroundings, the social dimension, these are the out-and-out reason to fall in love with this game. 

 

 

The Scottish was the first who discovered golf. The game was so intriguing that King James II was compelled to ban that game as his troops were too busy playing to appear for the archery drill. After fifty years, the game was lifted by James IV and golf had become a very popular game throughout Europe. In the early 19th century, golf was introduced in India after the British invasion. India was the first country where the game was hosted outside Great Britain. With the rising power of the British in the Indian empire, the 19th century witnessed a burgeoning of the new golf club in India. The Royal Calcutta Golf Club, established in 1829, is considered as the oldest golf club in India. Thus, where the lands were accessible and grass grew, golf found a new dwelling. After that, the Royal Bombay Golf Club was incorporated in 1842, Bangalore Golf Club was established in 1876 and The Shillong Golf Club was in 1866. 

 

 

Golf in India has a unique character. The nation beckons itinerant golfers with charming cross-sections starting from contemporary grasslands to flat one of the kind oddities. From the fastness of high hills of Himalayas to dramatic background of metropolitans, from lakes-forests to tea estates-deserts, India indeed qualifies as a bucket list destination for golf vacationers. In India, Golf is certainly not a very familiar term for vacationers, but when the game combines with other alluring attractions, the vacation becomes the most memorable one for sure. Courses like Delhi Golf Club in Delhi, Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar, The Kodaikanal Golf Club in Tamil Nadu, Ananda in the Himalayas, Uttarakhand, Aamby Valley City in Maharashtra, Kensville Golf Living in Ahmedabad, including the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in Kolkata are drawing a sapient crowd. The clincher of these courses is, each of them offers ample to keep non-golfers regaled while you hit the course. Every golf course has its cultural history. If you want to explore India properly, through these golf courses you can get the absolute essence of the Indian beauty of nature. Most of the courses in India are well connected by train, road. Golf in India has a lot of room to nurture. Though golf is still socially considered as an elitist game in India the country has now almost 260 courses for serving almost 100.000 Indian golfers, which are not large in number but if you consider its quality and diversity, you will find it exciting.

 

Golfing in India has overcome many hurdles and today’s India is witnessing an exemplary shift in the band of sports that are played through the nation. What was initiated as a rejuvenating game for retired or business people who want to engage themselves with their potential clients before closing any business deal, has now become a career option for many Indian? A large number of players are now participating in international golf tournaments. Anirban Lahiri, Jyoti Randhawa, Aditi Ashok, Sharmila Nicollet all of them are legendary Indian golfers who have set their milestone through their heartwarming performance and take that game to its next level. According to the retired Army major general who is leading the Indian Golf Union- the governing body of the aspiring golfers, interest in golf in India is rising. He anticipated that every year nearly 600 new players join in the organization which is just a fraction of few thousands who want to take that game seriously. The chairman of Delhi Golf Club, Sanjiv Talwar recalls the time of the 1960s when, one of the best-known course had grappled to recruit members, whereas now, Delhi Golf club has nearly 4800 members along with 20 years of a waiting list. And still, the club is facing surging interest for its summer program. These highlights are clearly showing that potential players in India face a major roadblock in terms of course availability. First of all most of the courses do not meet the international benchmark. Secondly, among the 260 courses majorly are privately owned. Therefore, a lot of people who have a great desire to play must have enlisted their name in a private club to get the opportunity to play. But this kind of dire sounding situation should not dampen your spirits as many new courses and driving extents are being built, some planned by Arnold Palmer, Nick Faldo and Greg Norman. Land engineers are progressively making golf the focal point of private buildings advertised to well-off Indians. A couple of state governments have additionally started to show enthusiasm for building open courses. And a company like 4moles is trying to evaporate the obstacles by leveraging the key resources of our country. 4moles has shown amazing roadmap to those who have a passion for this game. They have amazing roadmap to overcome one of the main stumbling blocks to the players that is accessibility.

 

The chairman of the Delhi Golf Club Mr Talwar said “There is a real change with more of the boys trying because now they see a future in it. They see Tiger Woods, they see Phil Mickelson, they see Justin Rose from England and Rory McIlroy from Ireland. Now they say, they can do it, and we can do it better.”