Junior golf in dire need of booster shot

CHENNAI: IT is the time of the year when our sportspersons across fields win laurels in international competitions. Young Vivaan—“Spell me with two As” --- wants to represent the country and emerge a winner, in golf.

He and quite a few other young golfers who were in the city a few days ago to participate in the South Junior Golf tournament are also looking forward to the upcoming National Games, where golf will feature, after its debut last year. Does golf have the ecosystem to nurture talent for years at a stretch?

A bottom-up approach is what is recommended for a sport to take off. In order for anyone to prosper in any sport, one has to start early in life. However, it is also a Catch-22 situation, since most parents want their child to have a solid base of formal education; a sport requires committed hours that will at some point of time, interfere with studies. Golf requires hours of practice, plus hours-long exercise regimen. While a few academic institutions back a budding sports-oriented child, they are still in a minority. A majority of schools play it safe, advice parents to make the child focus on education and take up extra curricular activities in their off-time or after they leave school.

Cannot we have a system where children showing definite promise in some sport are enabled to pursue academics in a flexible manner? A very good example of this is the Telangana State Social Welfare Residential Educational Institutions Society (TSWREIS), which continues to produce junior golfers of excellent calibre, without sacrificing academics.

Sports, as a full time vocation, is very alluring when one sees the benefits reaped by the top performers. Golf is well organised globally with the top players making millions. Top ranked PGTI players get to play in Asian and European tours now. Unfortunately, access to golf as it stands today, is restricted and expensive. Golf clubs in the country do their bit to encourage young players: junior players are offered playing membership, but once they turn 18, they have to pay for full membership that would run into lakhs of rupees, if at all available. It takes years for a junior golfer to emerge, and as adults, the field gets tougher, so it is a long haul. In Chennai itself, Sandeep Syal and Darshan Veeraraghavan showed early promise and were financially supported by their parents. In recent years Oviya Reddy and Pranav Nandakumar, who have exhibited exemplary potential, also have similar support.

Tamil Nadu, a front runner in encouraging and supporting youth to take up a sport of their choice, is yet to get into top gear when it comes to junior golf. So far, the Junior tournament circuit is kept going by some large contributions from a few individuals, while corporate involvement through CSR initiatives or otherwise is yet to happen in a big way.

BURNING AMBITION

Unlike cricket, golf is a very individual sport. Jayanan, who has been a coach for over ten years now, notes that a career in golf requires physical fitness, talent, fire in the belly to excel, unstinting support from local golf clubs and a solid financial backing. As with cricket and chess or any other popular sport, talent does not always lie with the richest kid in the block, but with the help of backers, talent can be developed to potential, whoever has it.

Tamil Nadu has always been a sports mad state and it is not always a ‘‘cricket only’’ approach. It boasts a good infrastructure for most of the games. However, it is not very visible in encouraging junior golf. It takes a good ten to twelve years for a promising young golfer to come good—the best examples are Aditi Ashok and Diksha Dagar. A dedicated golf foundation, with generous pockets, is the need of the hour.