At Par

In a country where cricket is an obsession and is literally nothing short of a religion,golf has always been looked upon as an elitist pastime that caters to just a fraction of the population.

So it’s an irony that at a time when the entire country is riveted to the IPL carnival unfolding in South Africa,a clutch of experienced golfers have dared to launch an unprecedented drive in the heart of Kolkata’s Maidan for the first time throwing open the doors of the otherwise elitist sport to the city’s middle-class kids.

Just a short walk away from Eden Gardens,the Mecca of cricket,ace golfer Indrajit Bhalotia and a few associates have kicked off a novel golf coaching school where training fees are as low as cricket or soccer coaching fares in the Maidan.

With the Calcutta Ladies Golf Club (CLGC) as its base and epicentre,the Bhalotia-inspired coaching drive offers the city’s children and sports enthusiasts a chance to learn the ropes in golf for fees as cheap as Rs 800 per month.

A less than a thousand bucks monthly fees for getting golf training is unheard of in any part of India. Consider this: for an enthusiast in Kolkata keen to take to golf,he would have to first pay a monumental sum just to get a membership with either the Royal Calcutta Golf Club or Tollygunge Club. And then comes the whopping fees for using the course,picking a coaching expert,seeking services of a caddie and buying your own equipment,which itself runs into a few thousand rupees.

“Basically,it’s the cost factor and accessibility to courses that deter the middle-class from sending their kids for golf,” explains Bhalotia,who played an instrumental role in getting CLGC to launch this programme.

“We are reducing the cost of learning golf by bringing down the fees to that of cricket or football coaching centres. By this we are throwing open the doors to the city’s vast middle-class children who otherwise simply can’t afford to visit golf courses. And then,we are providing equipment for free,which is perhaps the costliest part of golf coaching.”

Bhalotia,who himself is an established golfer and has commendable experience of dabbling with golf coaching at phenomenally subsidised fees at his own little academy,reckons that the idea is to tap the entire middle-class youth that is otherwise attracted by cricket and soccer coaching camps.

“Golf has never been this cheap in the country. Nowhere will you see children walking in at a golf course in any dress or gear,picking up the equipment that’s already provided for,and getting expert coaching lessons for something as low as Rs 700-Rs 800 per month,” said Bhalotia,who has teamed up for the project with golfers Vandana Agarwal and Gaurav Ghosh.

The year-round programme began on April 1. CLGC is expecting around 100 kids to enroll for the coaching course soon. Led by Bhalotia,a team of coaches will impart basic and advanced lessons to the kids,with classes being held at the CLGC course at weekends.

But then a heavily-subsidised coaching programme like this isn’t easy to sustain,admits Bhalotia,who has whole-heartedly been trying to launch a year-round feasible golf coaching programme in Kolkata for years now.

“The biggest hurdle,as we are finding out,is in reaching out to school kids. Our challenge now is to rope in city’s schoolkids,because that’s going to be a base we will work with. Thanks to a motley bunch of sponsors,like Taylormade and Birla Tyres,we have been able to cover the huge cost of equipment. Let’s see how far we can take this initiative,” Bhalotia said.