Special Feature: Politics of golf

From Zero Minutes to Tee Time- Golf in a politician’s life – by Chandrani Datta

May 28, 2014. Golf is an entirely different ball game when it comes to politics. The sport of business transforms into a diplomatic and the golf course becomes the perfect fairway to talk policy, laws and discuss issues of national importance. While in the United States, Washington DC has political-golf rankings, in India the politicians’ equation with the sport has always been a tricky one.

Given the non-aggressive nature of the game, golf allows politicians of different levels to bond on the greens and also offers a scope to de-stress at the end of the day. For some, it’s useful to keep alive their network while for others, they can look forward to the much needed gossip they have missed out in the corridors of power to be found on the fairways. It is also one of those rare sports where the politicos can initiate collaborations with each other and their parties. In India, there are several politicians who have taken to the sport while the services and bureaucracy is brimming with golfers.

Jyotiraditya Scindia, Bhupinder Singh Hooda, Montek Singh Ahluwalia and Farooq Abdullah are among the political personalities you are likely to meet at the course. For Scindia, the game is one of the biggest annual tournaments that he holds in memory of his father Madhavrao Scindia. The Madhavrao Scindia Golf Tournament sees a lot of golf enthusiasts engaging in the sport. It is also a networking event for the former Union Minister to network with business friends, and his family as they pay homage to his father’s love for the sport.

Bhupinder Singh Hooda had his tryst with the game at the India Golf awards held in November,2013. He not only took the putter on for the first time ever, but he managed a hole in one on the artificial green before three hundred high profile guests.

The former Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia made an exception only for golf when he gave up his blue turban in favour of green. A regular weekend golfer, Ahluwalia has often confessed that he is not a pro in the game but makes up for it by being quite regular on the course. Sheer chance introduced him to the clubs but since then this has been his favourite means of unwinding.

Interestingly enough, for one politician golf has become a bane instead of a boon. Farooq Abdullah’s love for golf has been at the receiving end of common criticism. People have claimed that his love for the game caused him to be negligent towards his duties. He had also decided to contest for the post of Delhi Golf Club’s President.

Globally of course politicians use golf more like a tool. In the US, President Barrack Obama has had about 60 rounds since he took over in 2008. He find a round or two every now and then. There is also a common perception that people in high posts should not be seen in the courses too much as it apparently hinders their ‘dutiful image.’ For Americans, the sport has been intertwined with the politicians lives for decades. President Theodore Roosevelt had always maintained that he would be careful about not being photographed playing golf. He would believe that it was ‘fatal’ to anyone’s public image. Many on the other hand like Gerald Ford were known to be really poor on the course. George W. Bush on the other hand might have ruffled up quite a few feathers in his senate but when it came to the golf course , he had an edge over many others.

For a sport that has grown rapidly over the last decade , it is interesting to see politicians engaging in the sport openly. It would perhaps be even more heartening to see them contribute to the growth of the game in a more substantial way.