Coaching is key to grow Indian golf – Jesse Grewal

We need more international tournaments in India says Jesse Grewal in this exclusive interview with Golfing Indian

2098
Jesse Grewal is one of India's well regarded coaches

23 June 2018: Jesse Grewal is one of the pre-eminent golf coaches in India, working with an extensive selection of young and upcoming golfers. One of his students and the brightest spark in Indian golf is Shubhankar Sharma, who is working overtime to establish himself on the PGA TOUR.

Golfing Indian caught up with Jesse this week about the state of Indian golf and the kind of inputs needed to take the game forward in India.

Golf is at an inflection point in India. What do you think is the role of coaches in keeping up this momentum?
I think the role of coaches has been very positive to the growth of golf. I do see a larger base of juniors who are technically much superior to the past at an early age and this is because of good fundamentals set by coaches.
The coaches need support from the national body/ state associations/clubs/ industry for investment in Trackman’s and other expensive coaching tools for the advance level as they are not able to invest themselves and even if they were to do this the cost of lessons would get unaffordable to most.
There are some exciting developments in the form of recent international victories in the Asian and European Tours. Yet, there is also a sense that we lack depth as it is only a handful of players thriving in the big circuits. Your thoughts?
I think there is depth as there are a lot of players coming up in the near future. For a country with less than 300 courses we are doing reasonably well.
Technically, how do you rate the quality of coaching inputs in India? How far are we from matching up to international standards?
Technically to reach international standards we need technology for which I already mentioned we need financial support. The coaches like the players also have a pyramid and there are some of us who are at the international level.
Which are the courses in India that are fit for international competition in terms of difficulty and overall quality?
If you look at the courses there are probably a handful which fit the bill. DLF, DGC, Jaypee,
KGA, Kalhaar and RCGC are what I can think of. I am not familiar with the new ones in Bangalore.
Among the emerging golfers, who do you think are candidates for a breakthrough in the next couple of years?
Yes I do expect many more. From the ones I teach I expect Arjun Prasad, Aadil Bedi, Varun Parikh,
Karandeep Kochhar , Feroz Garewal, Harimohan and many others to do well.
What do we need to do to strengthen junior golf in India?
We need more international tournaments in India. Why can’t we have a Junior Indian Open to the level of the world championships in the US or UK. Apart from that support for technology to get them into advanced methods of diagnosis and corrections early in their careers.
With the Open Championship round the corner, how do you rate the chances of Anirban Lahiri and Shubhankar Sharma?
I think Shubhankar is playing really well and hopefully will do well. I will be there to help him to adjust to the conditions. Anirban is experienced and has played well at The Open and also has a good chance.

Join the Conversation