By Champika Sayal
It was an honour to receive an invitation to play in the Senior PGA Tour’s inaugural Pro Am, at the NCR’s Jack Nicklaus designed Classic Golf Resort.
The ambience was filled with nostalgia as some of India’s top now senior playing professionals received a great big boost playing in their first ever Senior PGA Golf Championship over 36 holes for a prize purse of Rupees 4,00,000. Over 43 players from across the country played the Championship. The top 25 Pros were teamed with 75 Amateur players to play the Pro Am.
The “Hot Dot” Czars of the Seventies and Eighties who used the old style golf ball straight out of handsomely packed wrappers- toiled to sustain their careers in a game that is renowned world over for not having a “RETIREMENT AGE.” During the days that a “career” in golf was not considered appropriate for gentry in India and their offspring, the game had churned out scores of grass root lads who perfected their golf swings watching their “Sahibs”.
Assembled clubs and shafts which had no specifications were still good enough for these young lads to break even par. Clubs were not allowed to be imported so as a result were placed on a heavy customs duty list. Most of India’s golfers including India’s senior playing professional Rohtas Singh whose golf career 100+ wins span over 20 years started out with his first club made of a tree branch at the Delhi Golf Club!
Watching these young players yearning to hone their skills some generous business men from the golfing fraternity paved India’s road to professionalism in golf. The first declared season in 1982-83 a British player Phil Pilling was number one on the Order of Merit with a prize money earning of Rupees Sixty three thousand ( USD 100).
The Silver jubilee Celebration at the Classic Golf Resort culminated with Balbir Singh Verma taking the winner’s cheque of Rupees Fifty Thousand. Past Presidents of India’s PGA were felicitated by the Honourable Chief Guest besides a host of well deserved sponsors and officials.
2014 promises to be a great year for the seniors PGA Tour. A host of generous sponsors from the audience put forward their financial support for this wonderful tour with added incentives for travel subsidies. Encouraging the gathering present the exuberant President of the PGA of India explained the essence of three motivating words of wisdom from the SUFI language-
KAALMEH: Through the use of the “PEN” a great deal can be achieved by helping people out.
DIRHAMEH: Money is related to good things that you do, spend it for good causes.
Champika Sayal is the Secy General of the Women’s Golf Association of India
