Helping hand for golfer’s best friend
Caddies Welfare Trust gives men on the bag and their kids chance to better life
NEW DELHI: A lot has changed since Ravinder Singh started caddying at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC). The green fee of the Lodhi Course was ~3 then, now it runs into a couple of thousands. If Ravinder and those like him arrived at the club with uncertainty on the mind, today they turn out smartly in uniforms and are reasonably assured in a profession they may not have necessarily taken up by choice.
Their earnings haven’t kept pace with times, but since the Caddies Welfare Trust (CWT) of DGC came into being at the start of the decade, there is some order in a profession fraught with risk. Earlier, if the main breadwinner was incapacitated by an accident on the golf course, the family had little to fall back on. Today, post an unforeseen or debilitating incident, the family can get back on its feet with CWT’s group insurance scheme and annual pension.
Factors such as these freed the mind and gave those like Ravinder the courage to venture into an area he couldn’t for constraints. Son Sachin Baisoya is a steady performer on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and lives a life his father dreamt of. The daily drudgery of walking quietly with a staff bag on the shoulder and offering inputs only when asked by his player will stay with Ravinder, as will the risks, but getting to watch Sachin post his best finish on the Asian Tour, tied 15 at the Panasonic Open last year, is the biggest reward for the sacrifices to ensure his 24-year-old son pursued what he couldn’t. A pro since 2016, Sachin boasts of career earnings worth ~26 lakh.
Of course, there was inspiration to be got from Vinod Kumar, two-time winner on the PGTI, and Pawan Kumar, in the Tour top 60 since 2012 and who too braved the odds to make the big level, and stay thankful to DGC for support.
The onus is on Sachin to fulfil his aspirations, but those in the formative years need nurturing. It is here the CWT’s impact is felt the most. Take the case of Ritik Chaudhary, 17. The Class XII student is aiming to get into IIT and study to be a mechanical designer.
The CWT’s academic programme is just four years old but has touched 435 children at an expense of ~23.5 lakh. Ritik is one among those looking to acquire a skill-set; to aid his cause, ~25,000 has been sanctioned and a similar sum about to be approved.
While the endeavour is to promote proficiency in golf/academics, the focus isn’t only on expertise. “Monthly sessions are conducted to create awareness on social and golfing etiquette like conduct on the golf course, filling scorecards and submitting them duly signed,” said Gabrielle Juneja, a trustee. Given that the risks on the golf course outweigh the meagre returns, caddying holds little charm for the young generation in their quest to broaden horizons, said Major RS Bedi (retd), CWT’s founder trustee.
While there is concern members in future may have to pull their golf carts, that scenario is still some time away. Till then, a caddie will continue to revel in his player’s success.