Tariq Engineer
May 20,2016: Golf has long been seen as an old man’s game and there’s some truth to that claim. Since golf is a sport people can play well into their dotage, many golfers have only turned to it only after giving up a different sport they played as young men.
But that image obscures the many, many young people who also play the game and revel in its uniqueness. Golf is a sport where there is no team-mate to lean on, and no opponent to battle against.
Anjali Patel Mehta is one of a number of young entrepreneurs who enjoy both the solitude of the game and its ability to forge friendships and build networks. Golf takes them out of their homes and their office (and yes, gyms too) and gives them the chance to spend time outdoors with their friends minus the many distractions that populate our lives these days
And they can play well into their dotage too.
What’s not to love?
Anjali Patel Mehta
Founder, Verandah, a fashion label
A former investment banker, Anjali is a recent convert to the gospel of golf. Though her father played the game, Anjali had no interest in following in his footsteps because she thought “it was quite boring and I would rather go swimming”.
However, she filed it away as a game she might pick up later in life. After a serious back injury that hobbled her for a decade, the 37-year-old was cleared by her doctor to take up sports again two years ago. She began with tennis and then decided to add golf too.
“It was one of those challenges – let me try and see if I like this and if I can do it,” she says.
Being a working mother-of-two, the only time Anjali had to take lessons was at 6:45 in the morning. So that’s what she did, taking around 20 or 30 lessons. At first she was too intimidated to get off the practice range and on to the course but she soon found people were very helpful and accommodating. She now has a regular group to play with and has even begun helping to set up a ladies coaching program at the Willingdon Club.
“While [golf] does test a lot of your patience and it is frustrating at times, it is the most peaceful thing I have done in my life apart from mediation,” she says. “And I think it is mental and physical. People think you don’t have to be fit to play golf but that’s myth. It is probably the toughest sport I have played and I have played a lot of sports.
“I really feel it is something people should know more about, especially women because we think it is a guy’s sport.”
Anjali tries to play at least once on the weekends while also hitting the course a couple of times during the week. “Even if I practice at 6:30 in the evening for half an hour, I am in a much better frame of mind,” she said.
About four years ago Anjali quit her job to start Verandah, a pret fashion label, whose new collection was showcased at this year’s Lakme Fashion Week. If she wasn’t keeping her own hours, Anjali said it would be tough for her to give golf as much time as she does.
Her handicap recently jumped from 22 to 26 but she is determined to get it down below 20 by the end of the year.
“I want to reach some level of playing decent golf. It is very addictive and I have downloaded an app and constantly look at golf videos. I am doing all sorts of weird stuff that I never did before and I do it quite regularly.”
