MEN GOLFERS HOPEFUL OF GOOD SHOWING AT ASIAN GAMES

BENGALURU: Last month’s Indonesia Open was invaluable in terms of experience for the Asian Games-bound Indian men’s golf team. That week at the Pondok Indah Golf Course, also the venue for the Jakarta Games, gave the four-member squad an insight into the course and conditions over eight rounds of practice.

Rayhan Thomas, the highestranked amateur in the team at world No 22, said the key would be chipping around the greens.

“The rough is not friendly and once in, the ball sits, so we made some adjustments to the short game.” Other than tailoring practice to suit the venue, course management was another point of focus as coach Amandeep Johl gave tips to Rayhan, Harimohan Singh, Aadil Bedi and Kshitij Kaul.

Barring Kshitij, the rest will be using the Take Solutions Masters at the Karnataka Golf Association to get better by testing their skills against the pros, but even when the four aren’t together, they have stayed in touch over social media and phone since the Asian Games trials in April.

“Familiarity and healthy competition has helped us bond,” said Aadil. That will be a plus when they compete at the Games between August 23-26.

There will a final camp at the Delhi Golf Club and DLF Golf and Country Club next week before the team leaves for Jakarta. Competition will be tough as Thailand, Korea, China and Japan can be expected to contend but the boys are quietly confident. “We have got better so gold isn’t out of reach,” said Harimohan.

Last month we played at Pondok Indah Golf Course, also the venue for the Jakarta Games. The rough is not friendly, so we made some adjustments to the short game. RAYHAN THOMAS, Indian golfer