Teeing ground: Swinging start to Junior golf camp at MGC Golf annexe

CHENNAI: IF you have watched Tee shot: Ariya Jutanugarn on Netflix, you will know what it takes to make a golf champion. Or, to be precise, World No.1. The biopic of the Thai golfer is less about golf and more about a father’s drive to make world-class golfers out of his two daughters and how the champion daughter deals with loss, injury and rebellion against her father’s ‘my way or highway’ approach.

Remarkably, neither of the girls want to turn their backs on the demanding sport. As the father says in the film, there is a golf tournament happening practically every week in the world, and if you can stay in the top-10, you can be a millionaire. This is possibly another reason why golf is increasingly gaining ground at the bottom of the pyramid.

The fundamental reason is the simplest of them all: the game seems easy to pick up, it does not matter if one is short or tall, lean or muscular; and it is great fun, so children enjoy learning the rudiments of golf.

This was evident at the 10-day summer camp that kicked-off at the Madras Gymkhana Golf Annexe on Monday. Systematic social media alerts on the golf academy camp days ahead succeeded in garnering hundreds of enquiries, forcing the golf committee to cap the number of entrants at 45. Sixteen of them, from various schools in the city, signed up after seeing the social media campaign.

On day one of the camp, the boys and girls, ranging from six to 19 years, exhibited sheer pleasure in wielding the clubs and connecting with the ball, all the while enjoying the open air and the gentle breeze of the summer evening.

Catching them young

Getting a kid to pick up a club is child’s play; teaching the technique is a tough task. Pradhyumna and the other coaches diligently focused on each individual. While parents sat and watched, the rudiments of safety were repeatedly reinforced upon the kids.

“You cannot swing and play when it is not your turn. Wait for me to call you to play,” boomed Pradhyumna often, while the golf committee members were at hand to not only oversee but also contribute to the coaching.

Ahead of the coaching session, golf clubs of various sizes were readied; piles of balls were neatly stacked at the designated areas for the learners: putting and chipping range and the driving range, farther away. Some of the kids were second or third generation golfers and knew the rudiments of the game.

The older boys and girls were no less enthusiastic than the young ones to swing as many balls as they could and the coach’s warning stopped them short. Quite a few parents were happy to see their offspring on the course, that they walked to take close shots of them swinging, and safety lectures had to be tactfully given to the adults as well. A few kids walked from one area to the other, without realising that they had to carry the relevant club – a putter or an iron or the driver – to the respective practice area.

Streamlined coaching

By day two, the children were grouped into four teams and each team was named after the game’s scoring pattern: Par, Birdie, Eagle and Albatross: another way to reinforce the nuances of the game in a fun way.

The nearly two-hour session each day was divided into warm-up, briefing, and practice putting, long game, bunker shots and chipping. A golf committee member was also assigned to oversee each team. Enthusiasm soon turned into serious study. On Friday, when Pradhyumna announced a two-day break for the weekend, one kid asked,” Sir, why do we have to have two days off? Can we not come tomorrow also?”

That is a true golfer for you. Rain or shine, golfers want to be on the tee box and confront their monsters. Like Jutanugarn, in the biopic. Failing to make the cut 10 times, she overcomes her inner troubles to post a comprehensive win later.