Why Is Bengaluru So Good At Golf?

*This article is a sponsored feature by PGTI

The 18th hole on the final day of the inaugural Bengaluru Open taking place at the picturesque Karnataka Golf Association (KGA), was just the kind of finish the organisers would have been hoping for. For the best part of the final three days, it had been a tussle between 21 year-old Honey Baisoya from Delhi and 26 year-old Udayan Mane. Baisoya was either leading or joint-top for most of the tournament, but in a stunning turn of events he bogeyed on the final hole. Mane who had done a good job playing catch up, held his nerve and duly converted his par putt to seal a remarkable turnaround. It was high drama, not that those who were associated in putting the event together would be complaining too much.

It might come as a surprise that this was the first time that the Bengaluru Open was being played. Not that golf in Bengaluru isn’t popular, it is the base of India’s top men’s golfer Anirban Lahiri who is ranked 61st on the Professional Golfers’ Association (PGA). The KGA had hosted an Asian Tour event, the Take Solutions Masters earlier this year, so while this was the second event, having a tournament in the city’s name is always special.

Sandeep Madhavan, the President of the KGA says, “Being the President, lucky that two events happened this year. KGA is the number one golf course in the country, so when professionals play here, it makes a lot of difference. From the fairways to the greens, everything is in top-class condition.”

At ₹1 crore, the Bengaluru Open is one of the most lucrative events taking place on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) calendar. The support of Karnataka Tourism who are the main sponsors was a big factor in helping this event take place, something which PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy, goes on to acknowledge. “To have an event at the KGA is pretty awesome, it’s a great golf course. For this inaugural edition, we got Karnataka Tourism on board as sponsors. It’s a great initiative to promote professional golf in the country. Bangalore is a hub for a lot of top professionals and to have an event back here is great,” says Mundy.

In an attempt to build any state as an attractive tourist destination, golf will always be one of those sports that sit well with the initiative. Priyank Kharge, Minister of IT, BT, Science and Technology, Tourism, Government of Karnataka, said, “The tournament is part of our long-term objective to promote Golf tourism in Karnataka and further elevate the state’s reputation as an attractive golfing destination for foreign and domestic tourists alike.”

The course has every much the greenery that has often made people term Bengaluru as the “Garden City” and as one walks along the 1st, 2nd and 3rd holes, there are the buildings of information technology companies overlooking these three holes. One can’t escape Bengaluru’s long-held image as the country’s IT hub even from something as different as a golf course. The course has a resplendent green look to it and coconut trees are the most visible amongst others, as many as 150 on the course. One can also see a fair number of palm trees. There are 14 water bodies and 74 bunkers right through the course.

His thrilling come-from-behind win was Mane’s third title on the PGTI this year. With a winner’s purse of ₹15 Lakh it also took him to the lead in the Order of Merit standings with a total of ₹ 36.58 Lakhs overhauling incumbent Shamim Khan in the process. Though now a resident of Ahmedabad, Mane grew up in Bengaluru and admits the city has that something special in it which produces so much golfing talent, “Bengaluru has been a big hub for golf for the last 10 years now. Some of the best golfers are from here. It encourages us to push ourselves and reach where someone like Anirban Lahiri now is. It’s the best city to harbour your skills, with such courses and weather like this, one can play golf right through the year.”

Bengaluru is not just India’s IT capital and third most commercial city after Mumbai and Delhi, but now also a very big sports hub. It has always been known for its great cricketing tradition, but it has also produced tennis and badminton players of eminence. Almost every sport that India has a global presence in nowadays, has some sort of base in Bengaluru which will never leave a dearth of options for youngsters who want to get into sports. India has been steadily improving in golf over the years and Bengaluru has been one of the centres at the heart of this improvement, but how does one sustain this improvement with so many sports to choose from?

25 year-old Khalin Joshi finished fourth at the Bengaluru Open and with nearly ₹23 Lakhs, stands fourth on the Order of Merit standings in 2017. He is also a local Bengaluru lad, whose home club is the KGA. Joshi feels the reason behind so many golfers from Bengaluru becoming successful is the number of good golf courses the city has. According to Joshi, the golf courses in Bengaluru are good and long, similar to what one gets playing abroad, which is why the city has produced so many good golfers.

While praising the weather which makes it conducive to take up sport in Bengaluru, Joshi has a word of warning for budding golfers, “Golf is a great sport, but if kids want to get into it, they have to sacrifice a lot. Golf is huge now and more competitive than what it used to be earlier,” says Joshi.

The Bengaluru Open is one of eight events on the PGTI across 2017 which have a prize money of ₹1 crore and above, in fact both the events that were held at the KGA, had a prize money in this region. It’s a good incentive in a sport which is increasingly seeing some of the bigger Indian stars like Anirban Lahiri and Jeev Milkha Singh, rarely if ever play on the PGTI. Another important factor taking these increased prize purses into consideration is that from 2018 the PGTI will become an Open tour, which will allow people from all over the globe to come and play.

Mane is quite optimistic, “If PGTI has 10-12 such tournaments with this prize money, I’m sure with our tour becoming open, more people will want to come and play on the PGTI. There will be a lot more Indians who would want to stay at home and play the bigger events.”

Having two events at the KGA represents a good beginning, but Madhavan does not feel the growth of golf in Karnataka will stop here. “This is only the start at KGA, we are going to open it to other places in the state, for example Coorg, Mangalore and Chikmangalur.”

It’s too early to tell, but Mundy for one believes that Bengaluru will always have a good supply of golfers and the KGA has much to be thanked for that. “There is a great junior programme at the KGA, to have such class players playing at this course, and with this prize money it is great for the younger golfers. This is the way for amateurs and youngsters to get motivated. Out of 400 to 500 youngsters, if even half take it up, it will pave the way for professional golf,” says Mundy.

In a city that has over the past become one of the country’s prime sporting hubs, it is encouraging to see the way golf is being played and supported. It is even more encouraging to see all efforts being made to ensure that a new generation of golfers emerge who can keep the tradition of this sport going in the city.