Bamby Randhawa was a delighted man at being recognised as the best teaching pro in the India Golf Awards 2016. In a glittering ceremony this evening at the JW Marriott in Delhi, Randhawa collected his award with a broad grin and a content heart. Golfing Indian caught up with Bamby for his reactions immediately after his triumphant evening.
Anand Datla: Many congratulations Bamby on being awarded as the best teacher at the India Golf Awards. Express your reaction at the selection and your feelings on being the recipient of this prestigious award?
Bamby Randhawa: Thank you for this wonderful honour! i was speechless when I got the call informing me about the award. This is like a dream come true and I am absolutely ecstatic to get recognised for my work.
Can you discuss your evolution as a teacher? What went into developing you as a golfing guru?
My first attempt at teaching was in fact, whilst I was still an amateur in the 80’s at the Fort William golf course in Kolkata, when a member walked up to me and asked me to give him a lesson and asked me what I would charge for the same? At that time,I hardly knew anything about coaching but had an eye to detect swing flaw’s in a hurry, and correct the ball flight. When I got injured while I was playing as a Pro and I was no longer able to continue to play professionally, I decided that the only way I could continue to be associated with golf was to be a Golf Coach.
Post my injury, I moved to the US and spent ten years at The Old Westbury Golf and Country Club, Long Island where I was exposed to numerous teachers on the course and picked up great tips on teaching. Even though I was not officially a coach at the Country Club, I would instinctively correct swings and faults that I found in Mambers’ and spent a lot of time with juniors there. Post my moving back to India in 1999, ( Bangalore) my love for the game continued and I knew that this was where my happiness lay. I was clear that I wanted to primarily coach children who were the future of the game. My first student however, was not a child but Riad whom I started coaching in Challagatta village, which was just behind our home and more of a cow pasture. I spent a couple of years teaching there, getting to know the city and people in the city and coached whoever needed a lesson.
While I was there, I figured that I needed to get some formal training and I took an NGAI course subsequently and moved to Bangalore Golf club and ran the junior program as well as teaching adult members. However, the only thing that I was positive off was that although I had a great instinct for the game and the ability to teach, I knew it was imperative that I continued to upgrade my skills as a teacher. I spent a lot of time reading and upping my knowledge of the game, to an extent that sometime my family would get fed up of the amount of time I spent reading up and learning. But really, it is my ability to explain a particular swing of Golf whilst taking an example of a completely non golf related topic that made teaching easy to me…I have spent the last 15 years in Bangalore teaching the game and currently teach at 3 different locations. I am trained on the Trackman, flightscope and am also trained as a Club fitter which I learned the skill at the Honma factory at Sakata, Japan
Tell us about your students at this time and the kind of work that you do to train them into ace golfers?
My youngest student was 5 years old and my oldest 80! However today, since I am more pressed for time, my non Golf club training is dedicated to youngsters who want to take their game to the next level and Golf professionals. Last year, on the South Zone Junior golf circuit, my junior students won 76 prizes in 10 tournaments. In my golf training I work from the out side in i.e. with the ball flight, club face motion and impact, movement of smaller and bigger muscles. I use Trackman for lessons, practice and combine tests, lot of emphasis on feedback from range work and course play. To name a few successful Trackman clients : Karan Taunk, Dharma Amb, R. Murthy, Jabir Singh, Pratheek Nagaprasad, Kurush Heerjee. Up coming amateurs Aditya Chahal, Dhruv Sheoran, Aniket Sawant, Pankaj and Kartik Maandiya, Vinod Weerasinghe. Host of skilled juniors, Anushka Borkar, Prakurthi Sastry, Monisha Chowdry, Neeraj Shetty,Rayyan Anwar, Siddharth Paruthi, Krishang Nayak and the list goes on.
What are the key ingredients needed to make a successful golfer today?
To be a successful golfer nowdays, one has to be an Athlete first, no question about it. Then engage in a 360 deg approach to golf, Performance, Mind set, Fittness and Nutrition.
What are your thoughts on the state of golf in India now, among juniors, amateurs and professionals?
Golf is one of the fastest growing sports in India, thanks to the commitment and efforts of the IGU, NGAI, PGTI and off course, golf clubs all over India. The timely summits happening with certification courses has also led to a big improvement in coaching and better results.
Junior golf has taken off very well in India. Golf is no more an “old mans game”. With Technology being so big in the game of Golf, it is no surprise the quantum of Amateurs that are wasting no time to turn Pro, while playing the highest level of golf. Successful Indian Pro’s are living a life of comfort and luxury, the prize money in tournaments has grown leaps and bounds, for e.g. I won my first pro tournament in early eighties and the winning cheque was Rs 8333/- … today its nothing less than a 6 figure number. Also, its easier to access a range or a golf course as compared to earlier days
What are your aspirations as a coach?
My biggest aspiration (in golf) will be to be able to walk the course with my Students while they are competing with the best in the world at the highest level of golf and win for the country.
Receiving this award is definitely going to give me more motivation to work harder and try and achieve my goals in a hurry. 🙂
