Come January 28 and the 1,800 plus-member Chandigarh Golf Club will be seeing the elections for the managing committee of the club. While PN Thapar was the first president of the club from 1962 to 1966, the club has seen a number of presidents in its history. This year’s contest will be between former five-time president of the club Birinder Singh Gill and former three-time president Ravibir Singh Grewal. The Indian Express spoke to both Gill (63), who is also a lawyer, and Grewal (59), a horticulturist and an IT business owner. Birinder Singh Gill How do you see your candidacy this year and what is your agenda? I believe that we need to run this golf course in a very scientific and planned manner and we definitely have to look at the fairways and greens in a scientific way. The course has to be brought up to a different level and I believe this is lacking at present. We would like to give the members more opportunity to play golf and the focus will be on carving out a calendar which suits everyone. The need is to be more open about discussions with the members. During your previous tenures, what were the things you emphasised on and the lessons learnt? Our main emphasis was on the facilities on the range and developing a new junior range. We had built a new junior range near the 14th hole and a lot of focus was on promoting junior golf to get a good crop of junior golfers. We have seen the junior golfers winning titles at the national and international level before emulating the same at the senior level. Right now, I believe we need to open the course to experienced people with a scientific approach to make the facilities better. We have seen cities like Gurgaon and Ahmedabad hosting international events like Asian Tour or European Tour events. When will we see Chandigarh hosting such an event? We have seen Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) tournaments being conducted at the club. Every year we see the PGTI hosting tournaments at Chandigarh. Hosting an Asian Tour or European tour event is based on other criteria too, but I believe one needs to develop the course to a different standard and work needs to be done on that aspect. Recent months have seen the club receiving notices from the UT administration over construction activities in the club as well pollution norms. What’s your take on this? I believe we have to abide by the building rules and bylaws of the administration. We have to adhere to whatever the government instructions are and I believe prior approvals according to the laws should be undertaken. Golf is still considered an elite sport. Do you believe the Chandigarh Golf Club is doing enough to bridge the gap? Chandigarh Golf Club is one of the clubs where anybody can walk into the range and pay the required fee and play. But we also have to consider the membership and the limited scope of the membership. We cannot extend the golf course so we have to adjust the members, players as well as walk-ins according to the spots available and see the required balance. What are your views on your opponent Ravibir Singh Grewal? It’s all right for both of us to compete against each other. It’s like any other match and we both respect each other. I wish him luck too. *** Ravibir Singh Grewal How do you see your candidacy this year and what is your agenda? Like the past times, the main focus has to be improving the golf course and the club and aim to promote golf in the Tricity. Of course, the main objective has to be to promote golf among the juniors and budding golfers. We also need more focus on developing ladies golf as well as developing more facilities. It is a members' club and the aim is to provide the best golfing conditions. As always, one of the focuses has to be working in tandem with the Chandigarh Administration and carry the good work forward. During your previous tenures, what were the things you emphasised on and the lessons learnt? During my past tenures, my aim was to upgrade the conditions on the course every time I was elected. During my last tenure as the president, we were able to chalk out a 33-year-lease after a long gap with the UT administration. We also brought back the PGTI to conduct tournaments here at the course and strived to aim for a balance between members, players as well as facilities. We learnt from each tenures and the focus has to be to make the sport grow in the Tricity as well the country. We have seen cities like Gurgaon and Ahmedabad hosting International events like Asian Tour or European Tour events. When will we see Chandigarh hosting such an event? The answer is very simple. Apart from providing the facilities matching such events, we have to try constantly to showcase whatever the club has to offer. We are already hosting Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational, one of the biggest prize money tournaments on the PGTI calendar. During my last tenure, we were approved of hosting an Asian Tour event. You never know it can happen in due course of time depending on other factors too like sponsors and the focus will be on trying to host international events too. Recent months have seen the club receiving notices from the UT Administration over construction activities in the club as well pollution norms. What’s your take on this? There were issues raised by the administration about the constriction activities and the high court intervened and disposed of the notices. As I said, we resolved the long-pending lease issue with the UT Administration. So we have to work closely with the it and resolve all the pending issues too. Golf is still considered an elite sport. Do you believe the Chandigarh Golf Club is doing enough to bridge the gap? Golf as an elite sport is a misnomer in the case of Chandigarh Golf Club. Last week only, we hosted a caddies tournament and it showcases the kind of talent in Chandigarh. Anybody can come and train at the range paying the required fee and camps too are conducted. We have to understand the facilities are limited and we have to create a fine balance between the members' playing time, tournaments, training and coaching programmes. What are your views on your opponent Birinder Singh Gill? Birinder Singh Gill and I are close friends and we have always worked for the club. At the end of the day, the club is for all of us. Members will take their choice and my wishes for him too.
