Chennaiites face the green challenge in Bengaluru
Over half a dozen lady amateur golfers from Chennai and one from Coimbatore loaded their golf kits onto trains and headed to Bengaluru last week. Premalatha Rao, Gita Thyagarajan, Uma Maheshwari, Lakshmi Prakash (all from Chennai) and Aruna K (from Kovai) were among the prominent participants at the KGA Amateur Open and Handicap Golf Championship 2022, held at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA).
“A competitive tournament for amateurs is one of the most popular events for golfers. It’s also one that attracts the most talented. But that has been missing from our lives for the last few years, due to COVID. I am particularly glad it is back. Quite simply there is nothing like playing in KGA,” said Aruna, who is a sprightly 75-plus.
The marque event, held between June 1 and June 3, saw hundreds of women from all over the country converging at the gold course situated in Bengaluru’s Domlur area. Open to women above 21 years, the Championship saw a number of 60-plus walking nearly eight kilometres to play all 18 holes. Over 36 groups (four players in each group), teeing off holes 1 and 10 from 6 am, under skies to die for. They had come from Kolkata, Bhubaneswar, Pune, Delhi and Chandigarh. Many ladies who play in the Defence courses in the country too took part. Mention you are from Chennai, they all said, “Oh Chennai. Lovely golf courses” (Sorry Rajinikanth, you were third, behind idli).
The spacious restaurant at KGA was the recce point for many golfers from various cities, who were reconnecting after long. “Just as how we have (Rafael) Nadal, (Novak) Djokovic, (Alexander) Zverev and (Daniil) Medvedev in tennis, there are the usual suspects predicted to win in women’s golf,” said Premalatha, who is one of the players, along with Aruna and Revathy Sudhakar, to have won tournaments in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru. At the end of day one, Premalatha made her mark by emerging as one of the leaders in the Strokeplay format.
“This is one of the best amateur tournaments for women in the country and it’s wonderful to be back, battling our wits and skills against the challenging golf course,” said Sangeetha Kothari, a low handicapper from Delhi, after playing the practice round on May 31. Renuka Philip, tournament coordinator and a top golfer herself, readily agrees that KGA is a very tough course.
“With trees lining all fairways and with over 16 water hazards and 50 bunkers in the nearly 6,000 yards that women tee off from, there is a lot here to challenge one’s accuracy in shot making. There are other factors too, such as wind and the undulations in the fairways and greens, but that is the challenge for all golfers. This year, we received over 150 entries (a few dropped out due to unavoidable reasons) and to me, this is the largest in recent memory. We hope to see similar enthusiasm for participation from more sponsors too,” Renuka said.
There were 21 prizes in all, including special prizes. The committee had also made special coats for caddies with the player’s name stuck on it, similar to the norm followed in Professional Golf. “Made my day,” said Dr. Sudha, from Bengaluru, who plays recreational golf only once a week.
At the end of the day, it was a toss-up between the water bodies (results in a penalty stroke) and the greens, on the challenge factor. “The greens are fast and require some getting used to. From day two, when my caddy lined me up for putting and said, ‘medium green’, I asked him, ‘KGA medium’?” said Uma Maheshwari. “On our home courses, when it’s medium, we need to stroke a little harder.” Her views were echoed in the tournament WhatsApp group, with many appreciating the committee for the arrangements, the regal hospitality, the fabulous food, but not the greens.
At the end of three days of competitive golf, Chennai women walked away with plenty of goodwill and respect from fellow golfers.