Teeing ground: Enduring tradition of women golfers in Tamil Nadu

CHENNAI: For the first time, golf has been included in the National Games. Currently under way in Gujarat, the four-day golf event has both team and individual competitions. Professionals and amateurs are playing together. With a total of seventy seven players from various states in the fray, Tamil Nadu Golf Association is fielding a team of four amateurs with the talented, young lady Oviya Reddy from the city seen as a medal hope.

The state and the city has a long tradition of women golfers enjoying the game and also making a mark – not only as players but also in terms of contribution to the organisation and conduct of the game.

In the 1980s, the golf courses in Chennai saw a number of women playing tournaments, some attired in sarees, and competing as fiercely as today’s LPGA professionals. Malini Srinivasan, one of the yesteryear firebrand captains, says that ladies golf was extremely vibrant in those days and many players began instituting tournaments. Lalitha Balasubramanian was one such.

“I instituted the Avichi Cup in the name of my father-in-law AV Meiyappan,” says Lalitha, who was among the top players in the country those days and was in the national team. This year’s Avichi Cup, held at the Madras Gymkhana Golf Annexe on September 27, was a close one, especially between Deepa Veeraraghavan and Jayashree Bharath. Playing with complete focus and putting steadily, Deepa reached the top of the podium ahead of Jayashree, who was unlucky to have lip-outs on two holes, missing pars by a whisker. Deepa ended with zero bogey points, winning accolades for playing to her handicap.

Ladies and the Sportstar Cup

The Sportstar Open, held on October 1 and 2 this year, is one of the most prestigious tournaments in the city’s golfing calendar and the credit for making the event happen goes to the ladies, says Malini. “In the 1980s, Lalitha and I were instrumental in organising a number of marquee events,” says the sprightly septuagenarian, who has a razor-sharp memory. “We met N Murali of The Hindu and made our pitch about ladies tournaments. He was impressed with the fact that many ladies were so taken up with the sport and that we were fully adhering to playing norms and rules as governed by the international body. He agreed to sponsor the event,” recalls Malini with a chuckle.

The ladies wing organised the event and invited the men to play along with them. “The men and ladies were vying for the same Cup. We had 106 entries in all, including many from outside Chennai,” says Malini of the first edition. Played over two days, the event generated tremendous enthusiasm. The men’s committee helped by overseeing the maintenance of the fairways and greens for the tournament.

“Dilip Thomas, renowned golfer and patron of the sport, Lalitha and I made the draw, which required meticulous planning. We did not have the technological support then as we do now. The scores needed to be verified and posted as early as possible,” she recalls, in vivid detail, a piece of the city’s golf history. Ranjit Grewal from Bengaluru won the inaugural tournament. After a few years, the ladies wing handed over the running of the Sportstar Open to the men, who instituted separate prizes for ladies. S Lakshmi and Revathy Sudhakar were the top-two lady finishers in the stroke play event at this year’s Sportstar Open. At the valedictory function, calls were made to make the Open an all-India one.

The numbers of lady golfers have waxed and waned over the years and the attire has changed with pictures of saree-clad women golfers featuring only in the archives. They may shy away from stroke play and prefer Stableford or Bogey format when it comes to tournaments, but the spirit lives and women power is all set to surge again on the fairways and the greens, with more Oviya Reddys entering the fray.

(The writer is the Lady Captain at TNGF)