Taking a different route pays off for Shubhankar
NEW DELHI: For Indian teenagers who are serious about golf, a taste of Asia usually means going to the continental games as an amateur, turning professional upon return and, after a couple of years slogging it out on the domestic tour, breaking into the bigger league.
Shiv Kapur took the plunge two years after winning the men’s individual gold at the Busan Asiad in 2002; Anirban Lahiri, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Chiragh Kumar (Doha 2006) and Rashid Khan (Guangzhou 2010) didn’t even wait that long after their respective team silvers.
By his own design, Shubhankar Sharma’s fledgling career has followed a different trajectory. Having won the prestigious All India Amateur Championship at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club in January last year, the youngster had a lengthy discussion with his father, and took the “tough decision” of turning pro right then instead of waiting another year-and-a-half for Incheon 2014. Weeks later at the European Challenge Tour event at Kensville, Ahmedabad, Shubhankar made the cut on his professional debut. At the same time, he realised what a tough life lay ahead of him: “You have to be on your toes from the get-go.”
What followed was a rookie year on India’s domestic tour that got progressively better. By the time the Asian Games started in September this year, Shubhankar had already become the youngest winner on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), and finished sixth twice on the second-tier Asian Development Tour (ADT).
Till date, he has taken part in 10 ADT tournaments in various parts of the continent, including last week’s India Masters in Bangalore. Though not the highest echelon of golf in these parts, the ADT has enough competition to make life tough for an 18-year-old Indian. Having got a “taste of life on the Asian Tour”, Shubhankar teed off at the Panasonic Open on Thursday. A one-over-par 73 was not the best of starts, which got him consulting his caddie.
“He told me, if I were to have any chance of winning the tournament, I’d need to make at least 19 birdies over the next three days.”