The Duffer's Golf Club - Shanks Golf Blog

Mercara Downs Golf Club, North Coorg – A Hidden Jewel.

2008-05-13T18:19:00.000-07:00

Mercara Downs Golf Club, North Coorg – A Hidden Jewel.

Recently, on the red-letter day of our first wedding anniversary, my wife and I decided to take a quick week-end break by way of a little plantation holiday amidst the sylvan surroundings of Coorg. A very good friend/ schoolmate and now golf-bud of mine, who was at a loose-end that weekend, decided to join us, since of course I had also planned the added pleasure of some hill-country golf, at my home club; Mercara Downs Golf Club, which is located within easy driving distance of where we were staying.
Loading our golf bags and other paraphernalia into our brand new jeep (our anniversary present to ourselves!!), a couple of phone calls to make the necessary arrangements at the club; and there we were, on our way, roaring off in a cloud of turbo-charged dust and gravel! Arriving at our destination a scant four hours later, after an enjoyable drive, we felt that we had sufficiently proven to ourselves, the superb mile-munching abilities of the new Scorp.
Cheerfully steering the dear wife and her golf bag off to the pleasant club-house and consigning her to the tender mercies of the local caddies, for some chipping and putting practice, my friends and I teed off onto the wide, undulating fairways of MDGC.
Mercara Downs Golf Club was established by British Planters in the late 1800’s, making it a very serious contender for the distinction of being amongst the oldest golf courses on the Indian sub-continent. However, most unfortunately, all the original papers and articles of the club have somehow gotten lost or misplaced in the miasmic mists of time.
Located about 6 km from “Madikeri” or “Mercara”, the capital of Kodagu (Coorg) District, amidst 70 or 80 odd acres of swelling, rolling landscape and beautiful scenery, this is one of the lovely natural “parkland” golf courses in India, a living, breathing example of the setting in which the game was played by the home-sick planters of the early years. The course is clearly of “Mother Nature’s Design”, rather like the way The Royal & Ancient is said to be!
The Brits must have felt very much at home in these surroundings; The rolling “downs” are reminiscent of their own “Sussex Downs”, the weather varying from temperate and pleasant to sometimes chilly, clean, fresh air, lush vegetation, the quick build-up of thunderclouds disgorging large drops of rain; all these must have added considerably to their impression, topped off by the pleasant distraction of the pale grey mist rolling down the lush coffee and jungle clad slopes of the hills encircling the area. The club-house itself is relatively new and its position has been picked not for commanding views and imposing presence, but rather, for coziness and warmth, nestling as it does, in a little hollow amidst the undulating landscape.
MDGC is a full sized 18 hole golf course of 5194 yards, offering an interesting as well as testing experience for golfers of differing types and abilities. One of the unique points of this course was its 18 “Browns”, not greens, as we know them, which require to be played with great caution, fine tuning one’s game to meet the challenge. However, in the recent past, nine of these browns have been converted into greens, with the foundations having been laid for five more, which are coming up in the near future. All the “Browns” on this golf course will be converted to greens within the year 2008.
While the purists and others amongst us may jib at these changes and perhaps state in a mealy-mouthed manner that the “purity of the turf” etc is at stake, I for one, (as a golfer, writer and indeed, member of this club), whole-heartedly welcome the positive impact these changes will have!

Of course, all this costs very considerable sums of “Vitamin M”, but that hurdle has been overcome with the excellent efforts of the Captain of the Club, Mr. M.A. Bopanna and the Club Secretary, Mr. K. P. Ranjith, who, along with several of the club’s more active members, have secured a grant from the State Tourism Ministry, to develop and maintain the course, for the promotion of Tourism.
The fairways of MDGC are of the coarse local stubby grass which is “maintained” in a sense by some local four legged’s munching away at it, thereby causing little tufty outcrops to form all over the course. The earlier cattle nuisance has largely been contained now, so the grass is getting a chance to grow and renew itself.
The new greens have been carefully crafted using the special grasses generously donated by the KGA and imported from Bangalore. Since the greens are newly constructed, they require some little time to establish themselves and I am sure that they will “clutch and hold” the ball once they settle down a bit.
It is incidental that some of the greens have a distinct “Army Golf Course” feel to them, rising in a slight slope off the fairways, with small-ish aprons and deep-bunded collars falling away on the far side. When we visited, it was the time of the first few cuts, but given the kind of effort the green keepers there are putting in, I may safely say that this course will truly be a pleasure to play after the impending monsoons!
Of particular importance is the mammoth task of irrigating the fairways, which the club has already embarked upon - laying gravity tank fed pipelines with sprinklers mounted at regular intervals, to ensure that the quality of year- round growth remains unhindered by lack of rainfall.
MDGC does not abound in the thick golfing roughs, lurking buffalo grass, gorse bushes, thorns, inconveniently placed bushes, water bodies, trees whose branches almost reach out to grab the ball and all the other wicked hazards that we amateur golfers are exceedingly familiar with, but don’t let this lull you into a false sense of security because, believe me, if one were to be guilty of a mis-hit, one would most certainly have to pay a heavy price by way of strokes, since the ball rolls a great deal on the Downs, covering a good distance in a surprisingly short space of time!
There are some interesting local rules here (which were probably more attuned to play on the “browns”) but one assumes that these rules will undergo a series of amendments and modifications, since they have to adapt to the changing nature of the course itself, with the advent of the “greens”.
However, since at MDGC they do encounter some amount of damage and interference from some of the more recalcitrant members of the animal kingdom, notably Wild Boars and Pigs, I am reasonably sure that local rule (b) at least will remain; i.e.; one gets a free pick through the green if the ball lies within fresh pig diggings/ cow dung and footpaths/tracks only in the fairway!
Almost all of the holes on this course are of open aspect with wide sweeping vistas of fairway which fill the eye, coupled with some superb views of the collar of lush green hills surrounding the course. My own particular favourite though, is the 7th, which is the real “Signature Hole” at Mercara Downs and which is indeed, somewhat reminiscent of the 7th hole at the Ooty Gymkhana Club.
Walking downhill from the 6th green, one is awe-struck by the sheer beauty of this hole. Step onto the 7th tee and unfolding before one, is a sharp 45 degree drop, with a water body below, around 100 yards away, with the ground sloping very steeply above and behind the tank towards the green located 180 yards away. Normally met with a well struck 4 iron, rescue or in some cases a 5 wood, in case of a miss, one may as well concede the hole. This is because a water trap lies lurking there to swallow the ball, or the lovely lush expanse of thick jungle on either side of the narrow fairway, will put paid completely, to any chances of recovery, however slender, that one may have! And I am sure that if one were to mis-hit here, regardless how much of a nature lover one may be, all thoughts of admiration for the jungle will swiftly turn to deep dislike and one will shuffle along thinking somewhat unkind thoughts of it!
Another interesting thing is that both the front nine and the back nine end with Par 3 Holes, the ninth being about 129 yards long and the 18th about 149 yards long. This is a little experience that I haven’t personally come across before.
The day we played, we were forced, rather reluctantly, to choke off play after the 14th, because the rain was threatening to come down in buckets! More than the rain, with the entire area being of open aspect, with relatively few tall trees, there is a possibility of being struck by lightning, if playing in the midst of a thunder storm, since there are few other targets for lightning to hit.
Now while along with my friends, even I may subscribe to the belief that “even God can’t hit a One Iron”, we still preferred prudence, exercising discretion over valour and made for the clubhouse and a welcome cup of tea! (The haste also occasioned perhaps, because none of us actually had a “One Iron” in our bags!)
Mercara Downs Golf Club welcomes golfing visitors all year round and indeed, the guests at the nearby Club Mahindra Resort in Madikeri, will find it a breeze to visit the club and enjoy a round there. It would be sensible though, to make arrangements with the Secretary, reasonably in advance, for caddies and other accoutrements, or at least inform the club through the hotel/ resort management where one has booked to stay.
Probably the best time to play this course would be in the post monsoon season when the heavy rains have come and gone, but as mentioned earlier, with all the arrangements being made there and all the huge efforts going in to improve the facilities and services, I am very sure that this “Hidden Jewel” of a club will soon be on the map as a great year-round golfing destination, located within a Good Drive, (Pun most certainly intended!) of towns like Mysore and Bangalore!

Sustainability by Design - Glimpses into Howard Swan's re-design of the KGA, Bangalore

2008-03-19T07:27:00.000-07:00

“Sustainability by Design”
Glimpses into Howard Swan’s re-design of the KGA.
Meeting Howard Swan, a dapper gentleman of middle years, one is immediately aware of the energy, strength of purpose, candour and commitment, combined with the essential humility that surrounds the man. Spending an evening in his company proved to be an eye-opener for me and it was interesting to get a glimpse into the immense efforts which are going into giving us a “new-improved KGA”.
Swan Golf Designs was established in 1987 following Howard Swan’s 16 years of work in the field of international golf course design, architecture and construction. Indeed, his pedigree is impeccable - he is a second generation golf course designer-architect, since his father engineered and constructed almost all the courses visualized and designed by Henry Cotton, the great golfer of yester-years. Apart from his work at the KGA, his first in India, (with a few more to come), Howard is involved in golf course design-architecture-construction across the globe, from China, through Dar-es-Salaam, Russia, Slovenia, Portugal, the UK and Brazil.
“The Challenge must be to do as little as one needs, to create the golf course which is couched in nature itself” – Swan Designs motto and mission statement is indeed a commendable one, in these modern days of “high roller developers” and “instant gratification” where the indiscriminate use of heavy-duty machinery in golf course design, with little or no care for the surroundings and often fragile eco-systems, is the order of the day! Golf course architecture has largely lost its essential simplicity and has become needlessly complicated.
As Howard says, “The careful use of modern techniques and best practices in golf course architecture will become evident over time, when the course has been allowed to grow around the changes within it. With time and patience comes a certain mellowing and nature’s slow softening processes will result in an aesthetic, yet challenging course, for golfers of varying abilities. The responsible use of design and technology combined with high quality of maintenance will ensure first class presentation as well as a fair test.”
He calmly states (if a trifle tongue- in- cheek), that golf course architects have an unique opportunity to play with and mould the emotions of golfers, golf being an emotional game. Rather like the master conductor of a symphonic orchestra, the visionary golf course designer-architect, will bring one’s emotions to the fore and one’s heart-strings into play, alternately stoking, stroking and stimulating the emotions of fear, anger, relief and happiness, while one is playing the course. (Who would ever have thought that so many emotions entered into this sphere of activity, largely viewed by the majority amongst us, as an enjoyable leisure pursuit, over four and a half hours of communion with nature and the great open spaces?)
A well deserved word of appreciation here, for the foresight shown in the 1970’s by the original committee and founder members of the KGA, along with Peter Thompson, the original course designer, for the use of sewage water for irrigation and building a sewage treatment plant in those early days. Fantastic!
It is truly gratifying to see the fruits of Howard’s actual labour of love at the KGA, using the natural limitations and moulding the subtleties of the landscape by hand, into a more aesthetic, better laid out golf course, while not changing the essential clockwise progression of play, course routing and basic contours. He is most appreciative of the staff and workers, especially the ladies (all 600 of them), who have quite literally had “many hands” in helping him execute his vision into reality at the KGA. He commends their precision, attention to detail and the execution of it, because, as he says, “it will be destructive, to do too much”. “By Jove!” he interjects, “the workers are so interested in and committed to the activity around them and they do make the effort to see and understand why they are being requested to do what they are doing! “
Howard’s partner / associate David Whitaker, himself a highly competent Green-Keeping Consultant amongst other things, softly adds, “First steps, sorting out the persistent Water-logging problem by sustained functionality of the water resources, careful water management, minimizing wastage and improving storage. Next, raising the entire landscape by a metre and a half in some places, only 35mm in some, always according to the natural contours of the land, layering the course with the natural clay soil at first for the base, followed by red soil for firmness and fertility, with the top layer of fine white river sand (imported all the way from Kollegal near Mysore), to promote the growth of the fine Bermuda grass on the course, creating an excellent playing surface all year round as well as an open grassland area for the local flora and fauna.”

The fairways, semi-roughs and golfing roughs will have “Tiff-way 2419” grass, cut to 12-14mm, 25-30mm and 50-60mm respectively and which species is aggressive enough to overcome the depredations of the common “Dhoop” grass which it is replacing. The Collars and Greens will have “Tiff-dwarf” cut to 8-10mm and 3.5mm respectively, which will send the stimp-meter completely nuts and the unwary golfer scrambling all over the place to save his slithery putts!
Unlike some International Golf courses, especially the new fangled ones in South-East Asia, Howard is completely against the use of polythene to separate the different grades and varieties of grasses on the course, from tee, through fairway, through collar and through the green. He is very clear that with proper maintenance, timely, correct trimming and weeding, there will be no cross- migration between the different species, grades and varieties at all.
Knocking off some of the middle aged eucalyptus trees on the back nine was a necessary step, because they were planted there at a time when the golf course was carved out of a water logged semi-swamp, in order to drain away the excess water. Now that the course character has been morphed, heightened and raised, the issue is to conserve, re-use and nurture water as a fast-dwindling resource. The eucalyptus trees have thus in a sense outlived their functionality. They will however, be replaced by extensive bougainvillea on the periphery which will thrive on the sandier soil while providing the function of a hedge or boundary with a colourful visual aspect as well as helping to contain top-soil erosion with their strong shallow roots.
With the deepening and enlarging of all the tanks, reservoirs, canals and the system of waterways within the course, water will actually be made to irrigate the course at night and via an ingenious system of gravity, bolstered by pumping, be forced to recycle, renew and aerate itself by day, while being exposed to sunlight, which is very healthy.
Each tank and reservoir has been re-designed to quite an extent, with a sloping shoulder packed tight with the local granite to prevent soil erosion, the introduction of a safety shelf/ collar just below the slopes and deepening considerably below that to provide and facilitate adequate gravity led storage.
The ingenious thing is, that all the water bodies, while providing a lovely visual treat and contributing a great deal to the local eco-system, flora, fauna and the various avian species who make it their natural habitat, can also be sluiced out if necessary at the time of the monsoons, into the feeder canal outside the course, to drain away excess water, lower the levels and then function as fresh rain water catchment areas.
A cart-path will wind through the slightly re-designed garden towards the 9th tee and become like a pit-stop there. There is also a St. Andrew’s inspired “Swilcan” – like grey stone bridge giving access to the 9th fairway which looks rather pretty and quaint. No doubt, over time, this will acquire some of the character of the original, at least by inference, if not much else.
“Golf course design-architecture isn’t just about making a visual and playable treat of a golf course; it is also about things executed properly and sensibly, with close attention to responsibility, environmental and otherwise. It is about building something of lasting value, for future generations to enjoy and revel in.”
At the end of it, we will see a superb, all-weather course, which will not be closed off in the monsoons!
With its new length of 7150 yards (Par 72) and with a choice of 5 sets of tees on each hole, the course will surely be more testing. The KGA will be of International Championship Standard, most definitely and will also conform to the recent requirement for Ladies Championship Course yardages to be more than 6000 yards.
Indeed, with the deepened water bodies and changes like the semi-island 8th green, we had better watch out for mis-hits, because there will be slim hope of retrieving the ball without proper aqualung equipment!
One can heave a small sigh of relief for there won’t be any cross-bunkering and the new layout will provide a reasonable view of every potential hazard- no blind approaches with hazards lurking just around the corner to trap the unwary or over-confident. Also being addressed are the potential safety hazards along the front nine and the periphery, with first class, high fencing, preventing chaos on the roads outside.

It is important to note that Howard’s and David’s work doesn’t stop with the design-architecture and re-construction of the golf course. They are even creating a Vision document for the KGA, which outlines Course Policy, procedures for conservation, recycling, maintenance and indeed, “green keeping education”, a subject which is sorely lacking in knowledge and expertise in India at the moment.
(After all, as we all know, every club has the same number of green keepers and course maintenance experts as it has members, but it is important and necessary, for the greater good of the greater number, to maintain discipline.)
The processes and best-practices, which are what Howard is trying to establish through his vision document, MUST (as all of us in the corporate world know), outweigh the opinions of any individual or group of individuals, to ensure a common benefit to everyone.
All these steps will go a long way to making the KGA truly an International, Championship, All-Weather Golf Course, propelling it rapidly to five, maybe ten years ahead, as a benchmark for all the other golf courses in India.
Maybe very soon, we can even expect the INDIAN OPEN and other such tournaments of International importance and prestige, to be played at the KGA instead of remaining concentrated around the North and West of India. Truly, when this comes to pass, as it surely will, sooner rather than later, it will be a matter of great pride for the KGA and for the rest of Bangalore!
Experiencing, listening to and imbibing this “bottom-up” vision in golf course design; straight from the horse’s mouth so to say, has given me a whole new insight and perspective of the KGA.
Having seen Howard’s actual work on-the-ground at first hand, I, for one, look forward very keenly, to play and experience the course once the re-design and re-construction project is completed.

Golf in the Blue Mountains - Ooty Gymkhana Club

2008-03-11T07:11:00.000-07:00

Golf in the Blue Mountains – Ooty Gymkhana Club.
On the weekend of my birthday (I won’t tell you which one though!), I decided on the spur of the moment to show my wife the truly lovely sights and landscape of the Nilgiri Hills where I had spent all of my schooldays and indeed, much of my childhood and early youth, since my dad was a planter in the district. (After all, what’s better than to spend one’s birthday, marking the passing of yet another year, while at the same time, renewing association with the surroundings one loves most in the world, with the added bonus and pleasure of some golf thrown in!)
Therefore, on 8th March, we loaded up our assorted paraphernalia and our golf bags, hopped into the jeep and drove the 290 odd km up the hills from Bangalore. Using the steeper but considerably shorter approach via Masinagudi and the Sigur Ghats; some 5 and a quarter hours later we were pulling up in front of the Ooty Gym Club-house.
Founded in 1896 by British Planters and situated about 7000 odd feet above sea level, the Ross Thompson designed, Par 72, 6700 yard, Ootacamund Gymkhana Club (Ooty Gym) Golf Course is a veritable treat for the Golf Enthusiast. Practically everything in the main club-house, save the modern-ish bar, is redolent with history, steeped in heritage and evocative of the expansive comforts of days gone by.
Meeting and fixing up the afternoon round with Ashok Kumar, the obliging local pro/ course superintendent was short work. Since the dear wife has also taken up the game seriously, we assigned her a caddie/ coach and sent her along to get in some practice at the 17th which doubles as a driving range at OGC. Giving my bag to Ilyas, my elderly caddie and enjoying the fresh, clean, crisp, eucalyptus scent-laden air, I toddled along to the first tee, located on the hill above left in front of the club house.
Tee-ing off on this longish par 5 (583 yds), one typically has to place the ball to the right in the direction and line of the clubhouse, so as to make maximum use of the undulations of the course and find one’s self in good position to get on the smallish green which is located deep down in a natural hollow. If you’re a wolf, you are welcome to smack the driver on this, so as to be sure of distance. I chose to play my rescue which landed me fair and square, positioned well for the second. It is certainly better, in my opinion, to be humble.
The second is a relatively peaceful Par 3 of 223 yards, requiring you to place a little to the right with a 4 or 5 iron, so as to take advantage of the natural rolling landscape.
This golf course is carved from the natural rolling landscape, much of it similar to the original landscape of the Nilgiris, largely undulating grass and scrubland, with clumps of bushy trees, tree shrubs like Rhododendrons in part, loads of gorse and brambles (imported and introduced no doubt, by some home-sick Scotsman in the dim, distant past), and guarded by stands of Eucalyptus trees, those tall, timeless sentinels, watching and waiting to see some hapless soul hunting for his lost ball!
The fairways are neither manicured nor carefully tended like the newer, city-slicker type golf courses that one sees these days. Indeed, while the course is irrigated with a system of ingenious gravity tanks and pipelines laid by the British, there are no other real modern aids (except a recently acquired TORO Green trimming machine!). In fact, the fairways are pretty much kept in mown condition by the stray cattle, sheep, horses and other livestock that somehow, despite all precautions AND perimeter fencing, find their way onto the course. However, if you are fond of the game of golf, are a bit of a traditionalist at heart and maybe want to experience the game the way those original Scottish shepherds must have played it, then, this is a pretty good approximation!
Having said all this, it would be very remiss of me if I didn’t appreciate the quality of green keeping at OGC. No matter what the time of day, the greens were well moistened, nice and soft, almost reaching out at times to clutch and hold the ball! The putting lines held true, with a bit of a twist occasionally, but then, that is an occupational hazard in golf!
The 5th hole is worth talking about because it really tries your soul, with its awesome 500 yards going steeply uphill at first, with lots and lots of wicked gorse and bramble bushes lying in wait quietly to swallow your ball, possibly smiling to themselves, in anticipation of your frustration! Coming down and located right-ish is the green, guarded by a flattish, rough-ish bunker.
Clamber up to the 7th Tee at OGC which overlooks a deep valley, with a multitude of gorse bushes scattered all over. Once you have regained your breath and your heart has stopped thumping with the exertion and when your eyes have stopped bubbling and regained their focus, you will be greeted by a sweeping vista ahead with the green about 200 yards distant, guarded by a steep-ish rise to the right side, a bunker to the front right and a wicked drop to the left.
This is the real signature hole of the Ooty Gymkhana Club, according to my estimation. I can compare it in some measure to particular holes on two other golf courses I have played, the 7th hole at the Mercara Downs Golf Club in Coorg and the 4th hole at Victoria Golf Club, Kandy, in Sri Lanka.
It is as well to take a little break at the ninth, where one can arrange before-hand with the club dining room staff for a light snack of tea and some of the most wonderful scrambled egg sandwiches I have ever eaten. A sense of déjà vu for me, certainly, coming back home to Ooty again. First class Colonial style or in local terms, “Dorai” style at its best, with a uniformed bearer in attendance, catering to your every whim! This level of service with this peculiar Colonial flavour can be seen only in a few “hill” golf clubs in my experience – OGC, Wellington Gymkhana Club, High Range Club, Kundale Club in South India and Nuwara Eliya in Sri Lanka. (Please don’t forget to order some tea and biscuits for your poor caddie though, since it is certainly not an easy task lugging all your equipment and golf bag up and down).
Take a few minutes here to enjoy the crisp air around you and the fact that even food and drink actually taste so much better. This is a land that time has thankfully forgotten and if one seizes the moment to commune with one’s self, one would do very well to leave one’s cell phone and PDA and the other rubbishy, nonsensical trappings of so-called “civilized city life” behind.
Since this place is in the lap of nature and relatively less populated (and may it stay that way!!), one is quite likely of a morning on the course, to come across some wild boar damage or porcupine damage on the fairways, which they dig up to uncover some juicy morsel. It is equally likely that you will hear the peculiar wailing crowing cry of a wild fowl or “jungle fowl” as also catch a flash of its brilliant plumage when you walk along.
Going over to the back nine, one will find that it is relatively flatter, with wider fairways and relatively easier approaches to the greens, provided of course, that one plays to place the ball well – local knowledge certainly helps and one would be very well advised not to argue club selection with one’s caddie unless one wants to experience the vicious thorns of the abundant gorse bushes at first hand!
Worth mentioning on this is the lovely Par 3, 212 yard 11th hole, which is pretty well met with either a rescue or a 4 iron, placed slightly to the left of the green so as to allow it to trickle down to the green for birdie or at the very least, par.
On the 15th, (Par 4, 308 yds) one shoots a three wood off a far-away and down-below tee, avoiding a stand of tall eucalyptus interspersed with gorse, to come onto the steep uphill fairway, leaving one with only a well hit Pitching Wedge to the green. Once you crest the rise one is welcomed by the glorious sight of the ball sitting pretty on the green!
The 16th (Par 5, 576 yds) is simply brilliant, shooting the driver onto the right-sloped fairway, smashing the second with either a three wood or even a rescue a little left-ish so that the ball rolls down to the right and onto the semi-sunken green. Careful though, if you fall short of this green on the left side and are chipping on to it, because there is a wicked bunker behind!
The 17th (Par 4, 328 yds) is probably the only green which has some interesting upward undulations – if one is below, with the pin placement in the centre, it does become a bit of a poser but if you putt decisively and firmly you should be home for par.
The 18th (Par4, 370 yds) homeward is a nice semi- blind shot with a driver. Placing one’s self to the right side would be better because the slope is to the left and the ball does tend to kick and roll a great deal. However, there are not many other dangers on this hole (as if in compensation for the trials and tribulations that one has already faced if one has played the entire course), and one should be quite comfortably on the green in two, putting for birdie!
I will leave a cautionary statement here, for the typical cigar or cigarette-puffing, whisky-swilling, out-of-condition city-slicker type. Let me tell you quite plainly that the front nine at the OGC will leave you huffing and puffing, rather short of breath as you reach the ball, leaving you to negotiate very hard with your mind and body and requesting, nay, begging them to do your bidding! It will take you all your time to get your jelly like limbs, trembling knees and runaway legs under control and then try and address the ball, prior to taking your next shot!
If one is on the wrong side of 35 and normally leads a sedentary, desk-bound life, with little exercise, it is worth investing a little time in getting fit, acclimatizing one’s self to the slightly thinner air there and then embarking on a round of golf at Ooty Gym! This is quite decidedly NOT a course for the unfit, the faint hearted or the lazy amongst us.
However, all things said and done, considering the very reasonable access and comfortable driving distance from Bangalore, this land that nature has blessed with such beauty, is well worth the effort of visiting, if only for the golf experience alone! I loved it and so I am sure, will you!

St. Andrews the Mecca of Golf - My Impressions

2007-10-01T22:38:00.000-07:00

September 8th 2007– Notes made at the Mecca of Golf – St. Andrews!
I was fortunate to visit and pay homage at the Royal and Ancient at St. Andrews while recently on holiday with my wife in Scotland, that lovely land of Malt Whisky, Heather clad Moorland, Kilts, Old Nessie and of course, the home of the game we all love so well, Golf!
Contrary to popular belief that the game was invented here and so on, the facts appear a little different, with racial types as far removed from the Anglo Saxons, as the Ancient Egyptians, the Ancient Chinese and the Medieval Dutch laying claim to the invention of the Game of Golf. Indeed there even seems to have been some sort of similar game called “Kolven” having been played in Medieval Holland.
It also happens indeed, that the Scots Shepherds, to while away the interminable hours spent on the vast, wild and bleak moorland, watching their woolly wards, played a game involving their staffs or some sort of stick and a rounded object, probably a stone, which can, I presume be loosely compared to the game of golf as we know it. Having said all this, whatever its roots, we do know for a fact that the first organization per se around the game of golf, was the “Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers” and that the first ever competition was played at Muirfield in Scotland.
Over the last six hundred years, with the steady development of the game, St. Andrews has assumed command as the “Home of Golf” and indeed, simply and indisputably IS, the Royal & Ancient Golf Club – possibly being occasioned to some degree by the fact that this little coastal town bears the name of the Patron Saint of Scotland, St. Andrew.
As a golfer or golf enthusiast, it is necessary to visit this Hallowed Ground at least once in one’s lifetime, to pay homage, as it were, to the “Mecca” of the game. I can personally swear to getting ‘gooseflesh”, and a queer prickling sensation at the back of my neck while I padded by the entrance to the “Caddie Pavilion” and the “Starter’s cabin” – somewhat akin to the feeling one gets when one visits sanctified ground at other hallowed places in the world; for example the Vatican or even Wimbledon or Lord’s.
The town of St. Andrews is situated on a little tip of land at the eastern edge of Fife, Scotland, overlooking the North Sea. As a town, though quaint, it is rather unremarkable except as a centre for production of wool. However, its predominantly grey-brown stone buildings are today deeply impregnated with all manner of things to do with golf as a religion, no doubt partially due to the famed business acumen of the Scots, and aimed at the masses of golf-mad visitors from all over the world.
Practically every stone in this area is steeped in enormous amounts of History and Tradition, with the line of quaint, beautifully preserved shop fronts like “Bobby Jones at Auchterlonies” (located in the town), “Old Tom Morris’ Golf Shop”, “The St. Andrews Links Golf Shop” and of course, “The Old Course Shop”, all engaged in purveying vast quantities of a wide array of golf merchandise and occupying some superbly valuable real estate, overlooking the Old Course. Also notable is the Museum of Golf abutting the road on Eastern edge of the clubhouse – a lovely and highly interesting experience and very well worth visiting.
The extent of facilities on the links are surprising to the first time visitor; Two luxurious clubhouses (one of which was the scene of the (now infamous) turning away of that famed “professional golfer”, Walter Hagen, as he was not an amateur and not a member, despite being one of the most famous, skilled and flamboyant exponents of the game) – lots of unquestioning tradition and of course in hindsight, water under the (Swilcan!!??) bridge; because in its best traditions, golf was never intended by any means to be a preserve of the Elite or a Select few. However, the St. Andrews Links remains completely Public Land giving thousands of enthusiasts a chance to play the same links that their heroes have played. The famous golf club, with its five 18 hole golf courses and one 9 hole course, all of which I may add, are public courses, appears to a small degree to have ceded some of its hallowed antiquity to sybaritic modernity in the imposing presence of the famous and luxurious St. Andrews Golf Resort, Hotel and Spa to the left perpendicular of the Royal and Ancient Clubhouse and which also overlooks the First Fairway with the Ocean in the middle-distance.
Seeing it now, the casual visitor will marvel that what once was a single track hacked into gorse bushes and heather has developed into six golf courses attracting thousands if not hundreds of thousands of golf pilgrims! The “designer” of the Old Course is said to be Mother Nature herself, with so many changes of perspective and memorable details.
The beautiful old clubhouse looks (from the outside) to be exactly the same as it probably was, when the likes of Bobby Jones and Walter Hagen drew up outside it in their Rolls Royce’s, to meet in their gentlemanly clash, in the “Open” ! Today, by rather stark contrast, I observed vehicles of the likes of Honda, Audi, Volkswagen, Lexus etc parked quite possibly in the same places!
Worth mentioning is the fact that each hole here carries an unique name; ranging from the Par 4, 376 yard “Burn” going out, whose fairway is spanned by the famed “Swilcan” bridge and at whose close comes the famous “Himalayas” putting green! (As a Proud Indian I was pleased to set eyes on this, I can tell you!), to the Par 4, 411 yard “Dyke”, the Par 4, 419 yard “Ginger Beer” and “Short” (which can readily be visualized as a Par 3 of 166 yards.) The back nine coming in, has names ranging from the great Par 4, 340 yard “Bobby Jones”, the Par 4, 316 yard “Heathery” which is also the home of a rather nasty family of pot bunkers, the Par 4, 381 yard “Corner-of-the-Dyke”, the famous 455 yard Par 4 “Road” and back to the great Par 4, 357 yard “Tom Morris”!
Standing at the edge of the first tee with its sweeping view of the ocean on one side and the fairway on the other, in absolute awestruck silence, I fervently muttered a little prayer that one day I might get to “pay and play” this great course or at the very least, one of the five others, in the company of some of my good golf buddies. I was forced by the constraints of time, to turn reluctantly away from there and wandering over to the golf shops I bought some memorabilia and gifts to cement my ties to the place, taking lots of photographs all the time to create my own visual memories of the visit, prior to resuming our tour.
But I promised myself then, to be back someday and get in a round of 18, possibly washing the spirit of each hole down with a wee dram of that rich golden malt, rather in the manner of Archie – Bobby Jones’ one time golf tutor!
I state here most definitely, that St. Andrews simply must take its rightful place amongst those ”1000 places to see (as a golfer) before you tee off onto the fairway to heaven”!

Water's Edge Golf Club- Sri Lanka

2007-09-27T01:05:00.000-07:00

Water’s Edge Golf Club, Colombo – Sri Lanka-Sep 18th 2007.
Arriving recently in Sri Lanka after a long and tiring overnight flight, at the tail-end of an exceedingly well spent holiday, I was more than pleased, despite the lack of real rest, to get a chance to play a round with some friends at “Water’s Edge Golf Club”.
Again, as seemed to be fast becoming a habit with me, strategically steering the dear wife off to the tender mercies of some Retail Therapy at Odel, Noritake and Crescat Boulevard, I vanished in a cloud of dust and small pebbles to beat the ball off the tee at Water’s Edge!
This being the last leg of our holiday and faced with the immediate and not-so-welcome prospect of going back to work from the very next day onwards (somewhat the same feeling as at the end of the school holidays), I was very keen to make the most of our last day and play and enjoy this course. Additionally, the last time I had visited Sri Lanka, only 11 of its 18 holes were open for play and it is only in April this year (2007) that all 18 holes were readied.
Located in the Capital City of Sri Jayawardenepura, a mere 20 minutes drive from the Colombo city centre, this is a massive MICE resort facility set in about 200 odd acres of lush green landscape and targeted at Corporates, Institutions and the Wedding business.
The Emerald Green Island of Sri Lanka numbers just Four Golf Courses amongst its varied attractions, two of these being in Colombo proper; the traditional and classy Royal Colombo Golf Club and Water’s Edge with the other two being Victoria in Kandy and Nuwara Eliya in the Hill country respectively. However, each of these four courses embodies considerable differences in character and “feel”.
Adjoining the luxurious club house and spa etc at Water’s Edge is an 18 hole, par 72, 6500 odd yard golf course. Apparently this entire area was a lowland swamp in the not too distant past and this fact can readily be believed if one were to consider the extensive water bodies all over the course.
My friend Jehan had very kindly arranged with his Brother Senaka and two other friends, Raju Chandiram and Chanaka (fondly known as Casper the Friendly Ghost), to take me around Water’s edge. The round was great fun, though pretty chaotic for all of us in the foursome comprising the three Merry Islanders and myself.
Playing off the black markers, the first hole is an interesting Par 4 360 yard devil, with a water body ahead and another long strip of water between the fairway and the green, where the ideal play would be to lay up and smoothly cross the strip to get on the green for a decent score.
Senaka having kindly purloined a beautiful set of his father’s clubs (a complete set of forgiving Taylor made R7 Irons, an dreamboat of an Odyssey 2 Ball Putter, a couple of Oil Can finish Cleveland Wedges, a Ping Rapture Rescue, a Regular Flex Ping G 2 Driver with the additional choice of a wicked Nike SQ monster, I was completely spoiled for choice and it certainly would be very bad form to blame my scores on the tools given to me!)
I observed here that after holing out, it was a bit of a walk to the next tee, which went on to a longing 376 yard par 4 where the urge was to pull out the Big Dog, to complete, un-utterable, indubitable destruction!
The fourth hole of Water’s Edge is a lively Par 3 of some 214 yards – with the Wind in evidence that afternoon, some of us hauled off and trashed the ball with the Three wood but electing to play carefully, I preferred a four Iron, but only for a bogey unfortunately.
All sorts of dangers abounded on this course, not the least of which were the bulrushes abutting almost all the fairways – fuelled and fed by the abundance of water, these serve as superbly laid lurking traps for the wayward balls which most of us are guilty of clobbering.
Meandering along laughing, joking and generally having ourselves an afternoon of fun, I don’t think any of the four of us would willingly confess to the scores we racked up on our cards. Even our caddies were surreptitiously sworn to silence lest they unwittingly let the cats out of the bags!

There is really no signature hole as such on this course – it having been entirely designed by the firm of architects who were instrumental in building the main resort itself, but having said that, with the exception of the excessive criss-cross which could prove a bit of a walk, the course itself is scenically very beautiful and a near perfect setting for a leisurely round where time means nothing.
Moving up to the 8th hole, another Par 3 of 142 yards, we found ourselves faced with the usual water and rushes but didn’t do too badly with Bogey, considering…
The front nine ends quite close to the clubhouse, with a bit of a walk up from there to the actual terrace, where we sat for a while, sipping a soft drink and giving our caddies a drink too.
Then it was on to the second half of the course, wherein the 10th hole lies completely in a different direction and the whole back nine bears a completely different aspect to the front. For all of us it was completely unknown territory, since as mentioned before only 11 holes were first opened and the remaining 7 were opened for play only in April 2007. Consequently, all of us were playing that bit for the first time and making if I may say so, pretty much the same wrong judgements of club and distance.
The feel of the round was more like a familiarization exercise than anything else – however, this fact was more than compensated for, by the lovely setting in which we were.
Notable on the back nine is the 15th hole, a long and difficult par 5 which Senaka and Chanaka, made par on, the rest of us having fallen prey to the various hazards that infest that area.
Indeed, at one point Raju, even informed me sotto voce that a well known reptile research scientist had even released a few baby crocodiles into the water bodies on this course and this was done some time ago. Therefore, it may well be that one of our average wayward shots, might have been found if at all, reposing in the giant maw of a fully grown Saurian! (We didn’t however; see any such denizens and I can tell you quite categorically that this knowledge served to cure completely any urge that one might have had, to chase after mis-hit golf balls!)
By way of compensation for our lost balls and generally guffy golf was the lovely sight and photo op, of a pair of beautiful “Blue Coot”, water fowl, which were flapping about in one of the Water bodies along the Fairway. Apparently Water’s Edge is home to several varied species of birdlife, which will delight the nature and wildlife enthusiast. I’ve never seen this particular species before and they are really very pretty I may tell you.
The mantle of darkness was coming upon us as we were going over to the 17th which is a 193 yard Par 3, ideally met with a Three Wood if one is an accurate hitter or with a Number four if one wishes to control the ball better. At least this wasn’t a complete botch up!
The 18th and final hole is another long Par 4 of 441 yards – tough, because one has to again carry some water on one’s second shot, though the fairway is wide enough for a Driver off the Tee. With the fast failing light and the 18th green being lit up by the reflected lights of the clubhouse garden lamps, we finished a rather long round of over four and a half hours.
Meeting Mr. Billimoria, the amiable Pro, at the clubhouse, we were told a few home truths about this course – it would certainly not seem so daunting if one were to play percentage golf, carefully using one’s irons off the tees rather than horsing around with the Big Drivers etc. In hind sight (as with most other things in life), I realize that if one were to play humble as it were, one would be able to play to one’s handicap or even better it because though long and winding, the course per se is not really a monster!
Having said all this, I still do believe that it would be difficult to stage a tournament here, like for example the Sri Lankan Airlines Golf Classic, which has over 200 golfers on shotgun start on the course at any given time, because of the huge amount of criss-crossing that one has to contend with.
However, it would still prove to be an interesting and worthwhile challenge if they were to at least stage one of the practice rounds here, to show all those International Wolves that a healthy respect for Water bodies and the bulrushes at the Water’s Edge (Pun Intended), is absolutely necessary, for low scores!

MidSummer Midlothian Golf Edinburgh Sep 7-07

2007-09-25T23:30:00.000-07:00

Mid-summer Golf in the Mid-Lothians, Scotland.
Prestonfield Golf Club, Edinburgh, Scotland.
Edinburgh, Capital of Scotland, famed as the “Athens of the North” and the home, amongst many other things, to the Great Edinburgh Castle, Greyfriars Bobby, Mid-Lothian Single Malt Whiskies, the Holyrood Palace and interestingly, to the first ever officially formed Golf Club, the “ Honourable Company of Edinburgh Golfers”.
Prestonfield Golf Club (formerly known as Priestfield) is a little jewel of a club, located as it is a short taxi ride from the Edinburgh City Centre and the enticing temptations of Princes Street and the Royal Mile. Nestled in a nice hollow amongst lovely parkland it is bounded on one side by the breathtaking and towering presence of the volcanic “Arthur’s Seat” and on the other three sides by Holyrood Park, the grounds of Prestonfield House, Braid Burn and Peffermill Mansion. Painstakingly laid out over 6200 odd yards, this James Braid designed; Par 70 course offers lots of challenges for golfers of varying abilities, as I found out at first hand.
It seems that Priestfield was first recorded in a Royal Charter of 1153 but apparently the present day Mansion only dates back to 1687, when it was built by the Lord Provost of Edinburgh in replacement to an earlier building destroyed by fire. The club itself was originally established in 1920 and the course was extended twice, in 1928 and again in 1933 when they acquired more land.
Somewhat coincidentally, earlier that day, my wife and I were on a guided tour of the City, visiting as we were on our Honeymoon and when we were driving around near Arthur’s Seat, Davy, our guide, pointed out various bird’s eye views of the meandering fairways and silver white bunkers of the Prestonfield Golf Club which of course I duly photographed. While the views were pleasing enough, they served only to whet my appetite for a round there in the latter half of the same day. After all, Honeymoon notwithstanding, Golfing in Scotland, the home of Golf, is the cherished dream of every Golfer and indeed I was more than happy to indulge that dream!
My wife having elected to give herself up to the spiritual pursuits of a “Whisky Tour” that afternoon, I trundled along to Prestonfield at about 1230 pm that Friday and introduced myself to Mr. John Archibald, the General Manager, who in turn connected me up with Russell McIntyre, the Pro. Russell was most helpful in kitting me out with a set of Muscle Back Cleveland Irons and a Ping G 2 Driver but I was faced with the prospect of going around the course as a Singleton till a couple of Members turned up for their tee time of 130pm.
I was lucky that both these gentlemen, Ken Craig and Robert Fletcher, very kindly invited me to join them and thus, we set off along the first fairway in a companionable manner, conversing, joking and generally enjoying ourselves!
I happily bogeyed the 277 yard Par 4, first hole, “Crag End” and the next, which is a short, 125 yard Par 3 called “Hunter’s Bog”. Robert, whose official handicap is 24 and who also, like me, was playing this course for the very first time, performed very creditably making par on both these, while Ken had a complete wild card, going off the fairway on the second, but getting back in there for a bogey!
The true challenge and character of this course lies partly in the Wind which can be rather treacherous, as I found out to my cost a couple of times. This is simply due to the fact that the course itself is set in a hollow or shallow valley which acts a bit like a Wind Tunnel, considering the higher ground all around it forming a perfect natural funnel for the wind to blow up and down!
Each hole at Prestonfield is interestingly and varyingly named from “Crag End”, through “Peffermill”, to “Little France” and “Arthur’s Seat”! It is a very quaint idea and ever so apt, given the setting which is simply gorgeous. Nature at her very best, a lovely nip in the air, warm sunshine and golf – no man can ask for more. The best thing is that the air is so pure and clean, I was trying to take deep breaths and fill my lungs to capacity with each breath.
The third, “Wells O’ Wearie” is a 528 yard Par 5, which doglegs sweepingly to the left and where I was extremely happy to make par, with Ken going down in a double and Robert for Bogey. It is very important to place your ball so as not to go OB on this hole and I suppose it was beginner’s luck with me!
Going on to the 6th, “Pentlands”, which is a Par 4, 352 yard journey, I managed a Bogey along with the others, holding my own I think! Not a very difficult hole, with a fairly wide fairway.
Ending the front nine is “Peffermill”, a Par 3, 140 yard beauty, which I simply botched up and bogeyed by under clubbing with a 9. I can’t imagine what possessed me to use a 9 when a 7 would have left me with enough margin for error. Ken, despite his local knowledge also ended up with the same score while Robert, our friendly bandit, made par yet again!
Unlike our typical weekend rounds in India, we did not stop after the 9th for a breather – also occasioned by the fact that the 9th is not a clubhouse green.
Going straight onto the back nine, I was surprised by the change in the lie of the land so to say – this course had more surprises in store for the unwary golfer! The forepart has the aspect of rolling parkland, gently undulating landscape with vistas of green as far as eye can see. Moving into the middle of the course, one is beset by large-ish, older and mature trees which can trap the over confident golfer!
Indeed I hit a wayward shot off the tee on the 12th (Little France) which is a nice par 4 of 400 yards and unfortunately hooked into some mid-sized bushes there. Hunting for the ball, peering under the shrubbery I observed that it had come to rest at the foot of a thick shrub. I didn’t feel like taking a stroke penalty and a drop so I chose to get down on my knees and get creative, playing the shot horizontally with the toe of my 7 iron to hit the ball back on the fairway and thus resume play!
The 14th which is aptly named “Dog Leg” is a pretty daunting 337 yard Par 4, which I can loosely compare to the 7th Hole at the Army Golf Course in Bangalore! If one is a bit of a Wolf, one would tee it up high and smash it with a three wood over the trees on the left hand side, to get a clear approach to the green – if I’d had access to my trusty V-Steel, I would probably have chanced it but as it happens, playing with relatively strange clubs and in the company of new partners, I chose to be humble and drive straight with a number four. Despite the cautious approach, I ended up with a double as did Robert. Only Ken made Par and I bow here to local knowledge. He played this hole brilliantly, perfectly placing his tee shot and his second and putting like a master!
The course takes on an undulating though open aspect around here, where the 16th heaves into view – Named “Arthur’s Seat” this is a lovely hole a 193 yard Par 3, which has a nice green closely guarded by bunkers. There are some great views to be had all around which compensated for my bogeying this hole while only Robert made par!
The 18th – a 328 yard par 4, somewhat prosaically if aptly named “Home” after all the other interestingly named holes is a lovely hole with a sweeping aspect from the tee, slightly curving through the left. Bounded by trees on the right side, the sensible shot to play is slightly to the right placing one’s self at the edge of the trees for the second approach shot avoiding the lurking menace of the bunkers guarding the green.
Here it would be remiss of me if I didn’t mention the brilliant play by Ken, who missed an Eagle but got a Birdie by simply thrashing the ball with a Driver off the tee, avoiding the bunkers and right onto the green! Unfortunately he two-putted to make a very respectable Birdie while Robert made Par and I bogeyed, thus ending the round!
Thanking Ken and Robert for a thoroughly enjoyable round I took my leave since I had an evening of unbridled Scottish Revelry to look forward to, complete with several “wee drams” of the “Water of Life”, of which, like Golf, I am very fond too!

Finchley Golf Club, London Sep 3rd 07

2007-09-25T23:27:00.000-07:00

Finchley Golf Club – Suburban Heaven.
The chill, bright morning of 3rd September dawned, the third day of our Honeymoon Holiday in the UK.
Donning my kit, I bid a hasty though fond farewell to my dear wife. (Choosing a round of Golf over the dubious prospect of half a day’s meandering around mouldy museums, was for me a foregone conclusion.) Leaping jauntily into the Tube, I meandered from Paddington to Finchley Central, in the North West of London, to meet David Brown, the estimable and amiable Pro at Finchley Golf Club.
Arriving at 730 am, after about an hour’s silent subterranean communion with my fellow commuters (I now know how a mole or a miner probably feels!), I found rather to my chagrin that there were no obliging local cabbies around to take me to Frith Lane, the lovely wooded parkland area in which the club is located. David was most kind when I called him and very obligingly drove over to pick me up.
Kitting me out with a nice set of Ping Eye 2 Irons, a G2 Driver and a Course Planner booklet was the work of a moment and we turned to the next job of finding me a partner. Luckily Sydney Levy, one of the members drove up just then and I was able to join him and the members of his regular company to make up the fourth.
We decided to play partners with the stakes for the round being a Golf Ball each to the winning twosome. Tossing our Golf Balls, it panned out that Sydney Levy and Leon Smith would be partners and that I would partner Derick Petter. It was rather enjoyable to be a part of the easy camaraderie of these three gentlemen of middle years, all of whom are sportsmen in the best traditions of the game of golf! Walking down to the first tee, I was seized with the familiar addictive feeling of playing hooky from school, on a Monday morning, running off as it were, to play Golf!
Located in Frith lane since 1930, Finchley is a challenging par 72 course, designed by the great James Braid and laid out over some 6000 odd yards in beautiful, rolling landscape once belonging to a Victorian stately home, now converted into Finchley’s well appointed clubhouse. It is a picturesque course and being bounded by great trees and numerous shrubs, quite easily gives one the illusion of being deep in the countryside whilst actually being located in the middle of a great city.
The beauties of Nature bathed in the morning sun were apparent all around us and adding to our enjoyment was that ever-so-slight nip in the air – crystal clear atmosphere, birds chirping, the fragrance of freshly mown grass and all the other intangibles that go to make up a truly wonderful morning golf experience.
The first hole is an interesting Par 4 of 282 yards – a pretty straight approach with no lurking dangers so we had a net five, losing to our opponents.
I hadn’t frankly had time to refer to the course planner and was quite literally flying blind as it were, but I am of the firm belief that those of us who play golf for the camaraderie, fun and exercise enjoy ourselves much better when we judge the lie of the land for ourselves, without relying on the more modern aids. Of course, it is not so often that one gets a “second chance” as it were and this fact is nowhere more evident than on the golf course where one must try and make each shot count, but having said that, I enjoyed myself so much on the course, that the scores didn’t really matter very much!
The 126 yard par 3 third hole is a sheer joy to play, thramming the ball with a Pitching Wedge to land on the edge of the green for a chip, a putt and a par. Very satisfying indeed!
The beauties of James Braid’s design became more and more apparent when we saw that not one fairway criss-crossed with any other, the whole course being laid out in a clear forward progression with each tee and fairway being set away from the previous one.
I must pause here to compliment the quality of maintenance of the fairways and greens. Having played most of my golf in India, it genuinely was a pleasure to play through the “roughs” at Finchley whenever it was occasioned by a mis-hit, because apart from the lurking dangers of some few Gorse bushes here and there, the roughs are certainly so much more civilized than the ones I am used to!
Worthy of mention is the quality of the green-keeping – while the pin positions were quite straightforward, the greens are very lively indeed, with all sorts of hidden dangers from sudden slopes, different breaks and extremely slick surfaces!
The 7th hole, a pretty testing Par 3, 198 yard hole, was well tried with a 4 Iron for accuracy and coming down in four, I didn’t feel too bad, because I was pleased with the way I had judged the tee shot and then approach wedged the second onto the green.
Finishing the front nine are the longest hole, the par 5, 505 yard, 8th where I am pleased to have had a bogey and an equally daunting 470 yard par 5, 9th where we went down for par!
Moving on to the back nine, I must mention the 12th Hole in particular, as this is considered to be the real signature hole of the Finchley Course. A wicked 152 yard Par 3, with terrifying Pines and Conifers bounding the right side of your approach will surely cause any but the toughest minds to quail!
However, the terror of this hole is amply compensated when you walk up to the steeply sloping green and behold the imposing view of the Club house behind it! My partner Derick and I made a 4 on this, which we promptly forgave ourselves for!
I had been warned that the fairways were narrow and one might get a bit tangled up in the tall trees which abounded, but to my mind, the fairways seemed much wider than those at our Bangalore Golf Club!
Throughout the round, my three playing partners kept each other and me regaled with much good natured ribbing. I was witness, at regular intervals to their strange battle cry of “hot cheese” whenever one of their esteemed number landed in one of the numerous bunkers around!
The 122 yard Par 3 15th hole is also a joy to play off with an 8 iron to get one sufficient distance coupled with the necessary loft.
The course has its ups and downs, with rolling fairways and some decent climbs, but all in all, it is a relatively “user friendly” course, which doesn’t tax one too much in the physical sense.
Of course those of us who play regularly in India and Asia, need to get used to the fact that there are no caddies and so on, but truth be told, pulling one’s own trolley along, judging one’s own distances, choosing one’s own clubs and figuring out one’s own putting line are very good things, since one learns immense self reliance and at the same time, begins to appreciate the little things which one takes for granted here at home in India!
Finishing the 17th, another Par 5 of 442 yards in 6, we meandered along to the 18th and final hole of the day, a deceptive Par 4 of 412 yards. You are required to place your shot well to the left, in order to guarantee reasonable success being on the clubhouse green in two. While the green is a decent sized one it is not always true that “the bigger the target the easier it is to hit”, as I found out to my cost. Going down in 5 we bogeyed our last hole that day to lose a Golf Ball each to our opponents!
In the best spirits of sportsmanship the four of us repaired to the 19th and had ourselves a couple of tall glasses of tissue restorative tonic each prior to exchanging email id’s and parting ways. A fitting finale indeed, to a good round of golf and for me a highly enjoyable experience!
I will wholeheartedly endorse Finchley’s claim to being one of the friendliest clubs in North London – they certainly are very welcoming and make a visitor feel completely at home there!

Golf at Heythrop Park, Oxfordshire, UK.

2007-03-24T21:30:00.000-07:00

Golf at Heythrop Park – Enstone, Oxfordshire, England.

Driving through the beautiful mid-summer countryside of England, I was struck by the similarity to details gleaned from years of reading Dick Francis, P. G. Wodehouse, James Herriot and of course innumerable movies and so on.

From the depths of “Horse Country” – Cheltenham town and a number of quaint little market towns like Stow-on-the-wold, Chipping Norton, Bourton-on-the-water and the like, we drove through the lovely “A” Roads, completely deserted except for the occasional Land Rover, complete with attached horse-box, to get to Heythrop Park, an Historic Country Manor located in Enstone, Oxfordshire.

Heythrop is a magnificent pile, commissioned by the then Earl of Shrewsbury, Charles Talbot in the early eighteenth century and built lovingly by architect Thomas Archer, incorporating all the beautiful Roman influences much loved by Charles Talbot. Owing to certain financial setbacks the estate was leased (according to the fact sheet) to the Duke of Beaufort, who apparently used, for light recreation, to bring his thoroughbred hunters and pedigreed hounds from Badminton in not-so-far-away Gloucestershire, to chivvy the red and bushy tailed British fox in what is today Heythrop Hunt country.

The Manor House hove into view at the end of a 3 or 4 km long wooded driveway, where we saw a few rabbits and hares darting across the road and stopping suddenly, mesmerized by our powerful headlights. The facilities which are today run by a commercial venture and primarily used for large weddings, conferences and so on, include amongst other things, a nice 9 hole golf course located within the rolling, undulating parkland, dotted with fine English Yew and Oak trees, with occasional views of the surrounding hills, woods and pretty stone crofters cottages and stables.

Replete with and fortified suitably by a rather hearty full English breakfast – scads of scrambled eggs, toast, butter, cheese, legions of sausages and nice crisp bacon washed down with approximately a gallon or two of coffee, I decided to try and get a round of golf before wending our way towards the afternoon horse races at Windsor, our next stop. (My old pal Tarun and I had rather over indulged ourselves on the fine malts the previous night, having been rather overcome by the experience of fine living and playing at being Lord of the Manor!).

The first fairway rolls out from the main front gate of the Manor House while the Golf Club and Pro Shop are located in one of the Wings of the main building. I waddled (quite literally) off to the clubhouse, collected a half set of assorted irons, woods and a middling putter and wandered off to the first tee in search of a playing partner or two. I chanced upon two friendly members, Alan Betts and his son Ben, both of whom were just warming up. They welcomed me to join them and we set off in a companionable manner along the wide first fairway. On my third shot (since I had tangled myself up unwittingly in some shrubbery), I pulled out my 7 Iron to roll the little white sphere back onto the fairway – only to find, to my chagrin, that the 7 Iron in my half set, was a child’s golf club! (Serves me right for not checking the bag first and anyway trying to play golf nursing a sore head!).

Meandering along the undulating fairways, I was (in between shots) enjoying the hilly scenery around me – breathing in the clean country air and simply revelling in the atmosphere (taking time out as it were, to smell the flowers.) The UK in Summertime was so powerfully evocative of dear old Ooty and the surrounding Nilgiri Hills, where I grew up, right down to the assorted flora and even in some cases fauna, not to mention the surrounding grassland, which is ablaze with summer flowers, that I felt completely at home!

Well, at the end of the round, walking along the path back to the Clubhouse from the 9th green, I found to the surprise of Alan and Ben, that I had racked up a reasonable score that morning, shooting 39, at 3 over par for nine holes. (It must be true that Dame Fortune favours the brave in collusion with the God Dionysus, because to be completely honest, I simply hauled off and let fly at every tee with whatever suitable club came to hand except, of course, that fore-shortened number 7!).

Heythrop is quite centrally located in that it serves as the Gateway to the Cotswold Hills and within very comfortable driving access to places of interest like Stratford-Upon-Avon (William Shakespeare’s birthplace), Henley-on- Thames (where the great annual Oxford and Cambridge Regatta is held), Blenheim Palace (the birthplace of Sir Winston Churchill), the historic medieval town of Warwick, the University Town of Oxford (the city of dreaming spires), Silverstone Racetrack (for Motor sport enthusiasts) and again, not very far away, is the Town of Windsor famous for the Castle and its historic racecourse (for those aficionados preferring the Sport of Kings - horse racing, to noisy and smelly cars!).

My suggestion is that it is well worth trying out if you intend a holiday or even a weekend, in that part of the world. You are more than likely to find some rather excellent and surprisingly inexpensive deals going, via the Internet – and I can personally vouch for the fact that the sheer beauty of the Main Building, the scenery around, the bar’s selection of wines and spirits, the breakfast, AND the Golf, will make it worth your while!

The Kundale Golf Club

2007-03-23T00:42:00.001-07:00

Golfing in Munnar – The Kundale Golf Club.

Probably the last preserve or bastion of the British Raj in India, an absolute jewel of a place located a matter of 9 hours easy drive from Bangalore, the lovely scenery of Munnar district certainly qualifies it to be considered as a fore-runner for the title of the “Sanctum Sanctorum” of God’s Own Country!

A sense of déjà vu for me, since as a child, I was privileged to grow up amongst these lush tea plantations spread all around like a lovely green carpet, nestling amongst mist wrapped hills with a constant drizzly rain falling down and seemingly impermeable tropical rain forest everywhere with the superbly refreshing fragrance of tea wafting up from the numerous tea factories…I could go on and on.

We were visiting some friends, a tea planter and his family and understandably, I was more than happy to join him in a round of golf while there, at the Planter’s Private Preserve - The Kundale Club! The club is located a little off the beaten track and quite close to the highest point in Munnar, aptly named Top Station. On the drive there, one passes the lovely Madupatty dam and reservoir which once, (not so long ago), used to be quiet and pristine, but whose placid waters are now torn asunder with the wakes of high speed boats, not to mention the roar of their high revving engines.

Luckily, the Kundale Club cannot be accessed by the general public and one can only go there along with a member at his express invitation – so while I may not quite agree to being a complete elitist, I most certainly am rather pleased that at least this lovely place is still free from the evil depredations of the cohorts of uncaring, noisy, litter-bug tourist types whose ubiquitous and raucous presence almost everywhere else worth visiting, is a guaranteed irritant to normal civilized human beings.

The Golf course is beautiful– a nice nine hole course carved from the contours of a natural valley, bounded all around by hills with some steep climbs, where one plays the front nine beginning off the first tee, above and behind the clubhouse. As with most of the golf courses of this type, one needs definitely to be reasonably fit in order to labour up the bridle paths to each tee box and then muster sufficient energy to clobber the ball with reasonable force and of course, reasonable accuracy as well!

There are no serious water hazards and sand traps as one may encounter on the new fangled manicured golf courses of the cities, but playing on such a course is an absolutely charming experience in itself and well worth it, I may add.

Don’t be lulled by the sheer beauty of the place into a false sense of security though, because there are other, somewhat wicked hazards – notably the ditches that run criss cross around the fairways, a couple of streams bridged by rickety old timbers and last but not least, a proliferation of God’s rather unpleasant creatures, namely leeches of different shapes and sizes, including a vicious sub species - the dreaded tiger leeches (as if the normal ones weren’t enough for the unsuspecting golfer to contend with!

You can see these little monsters in the monsoon rearing their blood sucking heads up as you pass, almost sniffing the air like trained bloodhounds. They lurk in large gangs in the wet grass and on the tee boxes. They are silent and deadly because if they attach themselves to one, (even through one’s thick golf socks and by finding gaps in one’s shoes), one will never realize till one comes back to the clubhouse and sees them sticking to one’s person, feasting as it were!

The most effective antidotes to these so to say are common salt and of course tobacco – so here is one of the few times where being a smoker has its advantages (at least in the defence of one’s person against the full fledged offensive mounted by legions of leeches)

There are some interesting local rules - while playing the front nine, one can shoot to the road which passes through the fairway and still be within one’s rights, but while playing the back nine round (off different tees) of course, the self same road is completely out of bounds! Can be tough-ish for the first timer I assure you!

On the brighter side, the course is bounded all around by lush shola or forest to the uninitiated, where during one’s leisurely afternoon round, one can quite comfortably bump into a bison, quite possibly a pack of wild dogs and if one is really lucky, catch a glimpse of that beautiful big cat, the panther.

The Kundale Golf Course is one of the lovely natural golf courses of India – built by the British Tea Planters in their sporting tradition. It is today an inheritance, which we simply must preserve as part of our heritage.

The lovely old clubhouse is a typical bungalow style building, with sloping tiled roofs to enable the constant rain to run off and its long verandah dotted with easy chairs offering a pristine view of the golf course.

There is a quaint little bar inside (well stocked, I may add), where one simply helps one’s self and writes down in a register what one has imbibed (albeit in large quantities) – a truly gentlemanly and decent system, which is entirely dependent on one’s innate sense of honesty and personal honour. I shudder to think of the consequences that may arise if such a system were transplanted into some of our new fangled clubs though!

Well worth mentioning here is the fact that despite the advance of modernity everywhere else, this club is still not on the telephone and is staffed solely by an elderly and soft spoken major domo, who is quite possibly the last remnant of a dying breed of club staff.

In conclusion, I would suggest that you pull out that old diary of yours, search most diligently in it till you locate some old acquaintance or friend who has some kind of live connection with Munnar and see this jewel of a place for yourself. I will wager a substantial sum that you will not be disappointed!

The Kundale Golf Club

2007-03-23T00:42:00.000-07:00

Cellphones on Golf Courses

2007-03-04T19:53:00.000-08:00

Sensitizing one’s self to the use and abuse of cell phones on course:

As a regular golfer I agree completely with the letter written by Mr Paramjit Singh Sethi of Delhi in Golf Digest’s Feb issue lamenting the rudeness of using the ubiquitous cell phone on the golf course, something which is completely eschewed by the “unspoken etiquette of the course.”

I can vouch for the seriousness with which this is taken across the world since I have been fortunate to experience the kind hospitality of many different golf clubs and top class golf courses around the Globe by virtue of my IGU membership and of course, as a keen traveller, golfer and hobbyist golf writer for Golfline Magazine, Bangalore.

While we all appreciate the necessity of the phone and the fact that it regularly helps us in case of emergency etc, I still do believe that if we really tried, we could put it away for those few hours that we spend each week at the golf course, in pursuit of the game we all love so well!

A most disconcerting feeling it is, I may say, to hear the ghastly ringing tone of yet another phone, just as one steps up to address the ball at the tee or just as one decided to take a particular line through a putt!

I sincerely hope that more and more golfers take this step as a voluntary one thereby contributing hugely to their own enjoyment of the game as well as that of other golfers around them!

Army Golf Course Bangalore - Thoughts

2007-02-04T23:29:00.000-08:00

Some thoughts and suggestions for the ASC Golf Course, Bangalore.

I have been fortunate to experience the kind hospitality of many different golf clubs and top class golf courses around the Globe by virtue of my IGU membership and of course, as a keen traveller, golfer and hobbyist golf writer.

Several friends of mine and I play golf regularly at the ASC Golf Course in Bangalore and indeed, have been playing here over the last few years with a great deal of enjoyment. IGU members have access to this course and are able to play here by paying the applicable Green Fees and of course the relevant Caddy fees etc.

Indeed, in my memory of the ASC golf course, unlike the BGC and KGA (which are also far more crowded), there has always been much gentlemanly camaraderie and give and take here between various groups of golfers in terms of courteously letting faster groups through, accommodating other keen golfers who may not sometimes have a regular playing partner with them or those golfers who have been stood up by their partners or what have you!

Indeed, it is to be commended and appreciated that, albeit in an unspoken, un-stated manner, the ASC course has always visibly had many of the old value systems stay very easily in place, a fact largely due to the decorous Army culture.

Now the Green fees charged by ASC have gone up by over 60% in one fell swoop a couple of months ago. I may mention that one is yet frankly to really see any real and tangible results at the course since this raise, given the standard of maintenance of this course and the facilities provided there at the moment. However, given today’s economic situation and the relative value of the rupee, no one grudges this at all, even remotely. Indeed, like is the norm all over the World, most of the IGU golfers playing here even tip the poor ASC caddies a bit over the norm as a simple gesture of appreciation and gratitude for what can be a rather trying job (for the caddies of course)!

As a regular golfer on this course, I would definitely consider myself amongst its more outspoken well-wishers and would therefore like to suggest certain small pointers which could be taken into account to ensure that those who use this course continue to enjoy it and at the same time, with the growing popularity of this game, more people take it up.

The Turf cut from the KGA whose course is undergoing a major overhaul has been brought in (donated by KGA) to the ASC. However, this turf has been placed all over the ASC course in a rather haphazard and unscientific manner without even the benefit of the staff having prepared the ground adequately to accept new turf. This fact, combined with the complete lack of water resources in this dry season, will seal the NON - SURVIVAL of this turf, as anyone with common sense will be able to see!
Ideally, in this season, the turf should be carefully nurtured in a typical plantation -type hessian covered nursery, so as to ensure diffused, controlled, indirect sunlight. The turf should be watered frequently to ensure its preservation, till the root formation process takes place. In tandem, the course should be prepared by digging wherever required and placing proper growth promoters and fertile soil.
The actual placement of the strips of turf should be planned properly at the right places on the fairways, where a well hit ball is likely to land, in order to ensure the proper and valuable deployment of this excellent turf!
Similar to the other good clubs, the ASC could have a simple caddy line up (looper) system with a caddy master cum starter, who completely controls the movements of all the caddies.
At the moment, I’m sure a lot of people will agree that it is rather haphazard and unlike anywhere else, it is not on a first come first served basis; indeed the caddies run rapidly after those golfers from whom they think they will gain most by way of tips! While at the caddie’s level, tips are all important, this “running after tips” is a fact which can get rather irritating for the Senior Serving Officer Golfers who play here regularly, as also for the equally important Early Bird Golfers, who are forced to wait for no fault of theirs! After all, time is a valuable commodity in today’s world and must definitely be respected.
A way around this could be that Caddy Fees at acceptable levels for a 9 hole round or 18 hole round as applicable, are collected at the start along with the Green Fees and paid to the caddies at the end of the round by the starter.
In addition, there could be a simple caddy welfare drop box introduced, to which golfers are encouraged to contribute a “little something” over and above the regular caddy fees and whose contents are shared between all those caddies on a weekly or fortnightly basis.

The manners of the starter and some of the full and regular members, sometimes leaves much to be desired, as also the etiquette of some of our playing compatriots. Just imagine our chagrin when recently, some of us were told by the starter at ASC (who indeed is NOT the regular starter), that any “Guests” including all IGU members and “suchlike” would only be allowed on the course at a time suitable to the ASC management and full members, when until now, it has been on a purely first come -first served basis, which system has worked quite well. Bearing what I have said above in mind, this state of affairs seems rather ironic, especially considering that the current President of IGU is General J.J. Singh, the Chief of Army Staff!

Let it be quite clear that those who do play at ASC either play as full and regular members, OR, via their IGU memberships by paying the normal green fees. It is a documented fact that as per the rules and bye-law’s of IGU, those members who have paid green fees and registered for a round at any of the IGU affiliated clubs, are deemed to be and considered as full-fledged members of the club for the duration of the round and thus, entitled to the use of all the normal club facilities during that time.

Thus, it would be quite fair and correct to state that the ASC Course and its full and regular members are really not doing the IGU members any great favour by allowing them to use the course – it is a simple commercial transaction which most definitely benefits the course considerably in terms of revenue gains, word of mouth publicity and is a working system which has hitherto been handled in a decent and gentlemanly manner as befitting the ideals of Golf, the “Gentleman’s Game”! After all, it is the people frequenting it that make or break any place!

Of course, it goes without saying that the rules, regulations, decorum, manners and other etiquette of the game, the club and the course need to be adhered to, which I am sure everyone would be happy to follow.

It would genuinely be nice if the ASC Golf Authorities would please take these views into account so as to enable the continued conviviality of this game and an enjoyable atmosphere at the Army Golf Course for all the regular golfers there!

Coorg Golf Links - A Birdie's (Bird's Eye) View

2007-01-22T01:33:00.000-08:00

Coorg Golf Links, Bittangala, South Coorg – A Birdie’s (Bird’s Eye) View!

A sylvan setting, a lovingly tended course, a functional yet comfortable clubhouse, first class staff and nice food - all of this in the middle of Kodagu district, around four and a half hours drive out of Bangalore, Coorg Golf Links is a carefully thought out man-made course, which uses the existing landscape to the hilt, while giving the golf enthusiast a series of challenges and the opportunity for a whole lot of fun.

Coorg has been known as the “Scotland of the South”, with its affable and hospitable, yet strongly martial race of people, primarily agrarian economy and of course, nature’s bounty at its best, its lovely mist wrapped hills, lush, forested, verdant green valleys and sparkling mountain streams.

Since I am fortunate to number a host of schoolmates, college-mates and other good friends from the Coorg community, many of whom are good golfers and permanently resident in the district, my fiancé and I decided to spend the New Year’s weekend with some of my buddies there, in particular my old college buddy, Mr C.B. Muthanna or Ajay, as he is generally known. He is currently the Secretary of Coorg Golf Links and an avid 7 handicapper.

He and I both have a few things we hold sacred, notable amongst these, the clear undivided intention of beginning each New Year in an auspicious manner with a round of golf on the First of January (in the earnest hope that the rest of the year proves a “Good Golf Year” for us!).

Coorg Golf links is unique in that it combines clearly two different types of terrain, the front nine being hilly, rough and quite difficult, requiring a good level of physical fitness. Playing the front is aptly compensated by the challenge of each hole combined with the sweeping panoramic views of the surrounding countryside of low hills clad in Coffee Plantations and the flat paddy field lands interspersing these. Nature has smiled generously upon this land and how!

The Back nine on the other hand, has been carved out of land that was originally used for the cultivation of Paddy and believe me, it still bears the signs, with its tuft laden fairways, sudden ditches and irrigation waterways as well as the presence of an inordinately large number of land crabs, who, apparently rather indignant at being thus dispossessed of their hunting grounds by the demands of the local golfers, lose absolutely no opportunity in staking their claims, as it were, on every available patch of tufty grass and indeed, on the carefully tended greens as well!

Playing off the regulation tees, we enjoyed a brilliant round of Golf, with me ending up (much to my surprise, knocking ten bucks off Ajay – a feat whose tom-tom-ing I can easily be forgiven for), since I am the epitome of the average high handicapper who simply cannot get the various aspects of the game to work smoothly together, which fact, combined with a lack of adequate ‘local knowledge’ normally ensures that I have some rather high scores!

Notable amongst the holes on the front nine is the wicked Par 4, third hole, which requires an accurate tee shot, placed well on the fairway to the left of the large guarding tree (which guards, I may say, a sharp drop right which is anyway completely out of bounds). One’s second shot needs to be a well hit number 4 or 5 which will take one to pole position on the flag line, because this is a completely blind shot from below. Very challenging and incidentally, for most city golfers, very demanding, in the physical sense. This is one of the few courses, which have three Par 3 holes each immediately after the other, namely, the 4th, 5th and 6th Holes!

Climbing up to the 5th which is a fantastic par 3 – normally thunked with a Number 9, one needs to use one’s local knowledge to smartly strike the hill side on the right of the green and gently cause the ball to ricochet (gently being the operative word here) onto the green, since the left is another sharp drop to hell whence one may never venture forth! I had to do a Walter Hagen here, since my ball lodged itself rather nicely amidst some rocks and I had to thwack it out holding the club with the head the other way round and playing my wedge off with my left hand in order to plop on the green in two for par with my putt! Ajay was generous in his praise for that shot, telling me as he did, that it was as important to have a good memory and use it, while playing, as much as having skill at golf! I was most gratified to hear this from a good golfer like him!

Playing on through the next few holes, I realized that other golfers who may not have age/ fitness on their side, have to be very careful with the pressure they put on their knees, while navigating the treacherously narrow tow paths where one’s entire body weight is supported by one’s knees, so be careful!

The 9th hole is a lovely Par 4, guarded very well with a huge tree on the right of the green. One has to place the tee shot well to the right, in order to avoid the waterhole on the left and one’s second shot ought by rights to soar over the tree OR to the left of it, to land well on the fast, undulating green, to make two putts and par! Great!

The Back nine is characterized as I said earlier by tufty grass, tough-ish lies and plenty of smelly mud! A relatively easy road though, compared with the front. It is interesting to watch the little land crabs scuttling around and disappearing rapidly into their little shelters, each characterized by the little mound of crusty mud at the entrance! The apron of the 12th hole (if I remember right) looked quite like a little enclave of these tiny denizens, with a cluster of these mounds visible as I approached it!

The 13th Hole, according to me, is the real Signature Hole of Coorg Golf Links – a savage Par 3, requiring one to hit a 9 iron off a reasonably high tee, almost blind. Between the tee box and the green is this nice little Banana Plantation, which belongs to a local farmer, is NOT part of the Course and is certainly, indubitably and completely out of bounds! This is an absolutely brilliant hole to play! Accurate hitters will have fun, as will the brave-hearts amongst the golfing fraternity, but believe me, the average Joe golfer, will be neck deep in Bananas more often than not! I would compare this hole with the 4th hole at the Nuwara Eliya Golf Club in Sri Lanka, which also has an ‘out-of-bounds’ Banana Plantation to the right of the tee, where most slicer’s would end up, if they hit a wayward shot!

It is also worth noting that at the Coorg Golf Links course, there are a number of beautiful little cottages and tiny villas, each offering phenomenal views of the course. Their idea is to let these cottages out for holidaymakers and avid golfers who literally can roll out of bed onto the course while there! An automatic comparison I would make is to Victoria Golf and Country Club, Kandy, Sri Lanka, where the concept is very similar, as is the architecture! The CGL cottages would be operational very soon; indeed, several were almost ready for occupation when I saw them!

The Coorg Golf Links course is affiliated to the Karnataka Golf Association and the Bangalore Golf Club as also the Indian Golf Union. For the Bangalore based golfer, this destination is most definitely worth a visit, located as it is, just four and a half hours away by road, with the roads currently being quite excellent all the way to Coorg. I, for one, would very happily endorse the fact that it is a near-perfect setting and a fantastic place to unwind from the stresses and strains of modern day life in the cities!

Sri Lankan Airlines Golf Classic Coverage

2006-12-29T00:28:00.000-08:00

Sri Lankan Golf Classic, Victoria, Kandy – 27th, 28th Oct 2006.

Imagine my extreme pleasure and surprise when I received a phone call absolutely out of the blue from Mr Hari Achanta of Golfline Magazine, apologizing for the short notice and asking me most tentatively if I would be interested in visiting Sri Lanka to play some golf on an all expense paid basis!

I mean, hey, who in his right mind would grumble at a Business Class ticket on Srilankan, First Class Hotels everywhere, a Private Chauffeur driven Car completely at my disposal and loads of Golf thrown in at some of the most scenic golf courses in the South Asian Region – all of this completely on the house! Wow!

Completely sponsored by Srilankan Airlines, this was truly a brilliant opportunity for an enthusiastic golfer, traveller and hobbyist writer like me! Whoopee, I said, grinning to myself from ear to ear and with some difficulty, desisted from doing handsprings on the roadside! At once I asked permission from the office too, which happy to say, I was given, by the kindness and large-hearted-ness of my bosses at Madura Garments where I work!

Well, I experienced at first hand the gentle hospitality of these soft-spoken, kind hearted and immensely charming islanders as soon as I hopped onto the Srilankan Airlines flight from Bangalore on 24th October, right from the first gentle “Ayubowan” (meaning welcome), onwards. Lugging my trusty golf clubs, many boxes of golf balls, tees, assorted clothing, shoes and golfing paraphernalia, I was thoroughly pleased to be going. It would be rather remiss of me if I didn’t at this point, mention the kindness of the Sri Lankan Airlines team, especially Mr Chandana De Silva, Mr Lalit Fernando and Mr Niroshan Ranawake in enabling so many varied and enjoyable experiences for me in a thoroughly enjoyable manner, during my 5-day sojourn there.

This superbly extravagant annual effort by Sri Lankan Airlines on their Golf Classic Tour teed off on the 25th and holed out on the 28th of October 2006. An experience par excellence, if I may say so, which enabled more than 200 odd Golf enthusiasts from points of origin as far and wide as the UK, US, Scotland, Hong Kong, Japan, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Kuwait, China, Thailand, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka, to meet in the true spirit of fellowship and play the game we all love so well amidst some truly beautiful and sylvan surroundings!

27th & 28th October - Victoria Golf and Country Resort – Digana, Kandy, Sri Lanka.

The Srilankan Airlines Golf Classic, played in the Stable ford format, took place in the Victoria Golf and Country Resort is located in Rajawella, Digana in Kandy, the little hill Kingdom in Sri Lanka, a lower elevation hilly area where a massive hydel project was begun some years back with the Victoria Dam and Reservoir.

The tournament was played over two consecutive days 27th and 28th Oct with some absolutely extravagant prizes from Srilankan being up for grabs. Tickets between any two destinations on Business Class and some really elegant trophies as well! Special prizes for the longest drive and of course “closest to pin” and a Senior’s trophy also were presented.

The Golf course per se was designed by the renowned Golf Course Architect, Donald Steel in 1997 and I do believe that he had his task cut out, working through mist clad mountains, brilliant natural rock formations and some equally interesting wildlife!

Opened in 1999, this Par 73, 6945 yard golf course is a masterpiece of landscaping, built and maintained to USGA standards and rated in the Top 100 Most beautiful courses in the world by Golf Digest and Asian Golf Monthly – with very good reason I may say, since I was simply overwhelmed by the sheer beauty and contrasting landscape. The most arresting point is that it is blessed with towering mountains as well as brilliant views of Water all along the course.

The golf resort has some lovely cottages in the typical Swiss chalet style and even offers other sports like trekking and equestrian sports since this is also the home of the Victoria Equestrian Stables. The clubhouse is a functional and smart one, smart and clean in terms of architecture and with the functionality and facilities required by the new-age luxury-seeking golfer.

Very ably managed by Mike Varney, a giant of an Anglo Saxon who is also a Tiger of a Golfer and a British PGA Professional, the maintenance of this place is simply fantastic. High quality shrieks at you from every aspect, right from the Driving Range offering beautiful views of the Reservoir, to the staff who are extremely pleasant, friendly and knowledgeable and the brilliantly maintained fairways and greens.

Thus, on 27th and 28th October I was able to play a round here along with the tournament, something which was kindly arranged for me as a very late comer by some kind gentlemen and now friends of mine, Mr Jehan Kumara, Mr Raju Chandiram, Mr Chandana De Silva and of course Mike Varney himself.

Nuwan, my small built caddy and I set off to make our way around this masterpiece of natural beauty combined with man made perfection. I played along with Mr Alan Sheppard, a fine gentleman of middle years and a young tiger-cub of a Golfer, Roshan De Silva who normally plays at the Royal Colombo.

The 1st Tee from behind the clubhouse required me to clobber my driver well into the middle so as to negotiate the right dogleg to the green. This Par 4 – 403 yards can be done with the Driver and Rescue / Long Iron. Beautiful putting surfaces and undulating greens do definitely require a lot of skill to keep the score low.

The Par 4 – 384 yard 3rd hole is a beautiful dogleg left where if one is a brave man, one may choose to clunk the ball well over the rise on the left, causing a short approach and definitely one less shot to reach the green in regulation. Woe betide you though if you don’t carry the rise and end up in the evil buffalo grass roughs that abound here. A tamarind tree to the right guards the green and one needs to be pretty accurate to get there placed well.

My favourite hole – the wickedly pretty Par 3, 116 yard 4th is called the “Terror” because it has a pocket hanky sized undulating green usually attacked by a 9 or Pitching Wedge. If you go right you will go straight into hell signified by deep devilish rough and of course the sharp drop direct into Victoria Lake! I was happy both times I played here to make par on this hole. (Largely I suspect because I had paid homage to the Water Gods prior to arriving here!) One simply must pause here, please, to take in the breathtaking views all around of the Victoria Reservoir and of course the surrounding mountains. Paradise regained, a la the late John Milton! Believe me, I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of this place!

Climb up to the 5th tee – and you need to decide whether you want to go left or right or centre of the knoll or mound in the centre of the fairway. Long hitters can get there, but be humble, gentlemen, is my sincere suggestion! This 314-yard Par 4 looks deceptively easy! Incidentally here I was almost snuffed out rather permanently by a ball hit by the chap in the group behind us who decided to drive off the tee with his driver just as our group was putting on the green. Ian Tait, the BPGA Tournament Official, a crusty Marlboro smoking Scotsman, had rather a lot to say about this to that poor gent, Steve Munro. Personally I take my hat off to Steve’s distance combined with accuracy.

The 6th Tee is also a deliciously high one, very tempting to pull out the “big dog” –with the fairway lying well below – maybe 100 odd feet below going into a nice long 473 yard Par 4 where your fate will be determined by your Tee shot and very little else. Very tough, as I found out to my cost!
The 7th is a pretty 182-yard par 3, which is rather straightforward despite a split-level green. Smartly attacked with a 4 iron, one should putt in to make par unless of course one is struck by ill luck.

One must simply take a break after the 7th since there is an excellently appointed golf hut with some seriously great snacks like hot dogs, puff pastries and practically any kind of soft drink. Lovely staff – so very solicitous for one’s comfort!

Move through to the 422 yard- Par 4, 8th where one simply tees up and clobbers the little white sphere – man, if you find the fairway centre you only need to launch the ball again over the two guarding Mara trees with your rescue or 5 wood to be on in regulation and make par. Not that I did, to be honest, but that was entirely due to the buffalo grass roughs and then getting trapped by the Mara trees – perhaps I didn’t pay sufficient homage to the Tree Gods and the Gods of the Buffalo Grass Roughs, because the combination of these were my complete undoing!

The 9th is a monster – Par 5 520 Yard hole. I was forced to scratch because of a wayward tee shot which caused me to enter the buffalo grass rather deeply and then of course, short of using a bulldozer or some other state-of-the-art earthmoving equipment, there was no way to get out! All it needs is accuracy, but then as we all know, this is easier said than done!

Pressing on then, to the back nine after a quick Banana and Water break to keep the energy reserves up and to bolster one’s rapidly weakening resolve to conquer the rest of the course!

Attack the 357 Yard Par 4 10th with either a Driver or a 3 wood if you tend to slice or hook, because it is important to be amongst the Jack Trees on the fairways so as to be on in regulation. True to my form that day, I promptly took a couple of practice swings and then simply let fly with my rescue, wishing to be humble. Humility doesn’t work, accuracy does, because as I found out to my cost, I was in the death–guff once again! Wincing and steeling myself again I ended up making a triple on the 10th!

The long 534 yard-Par 5 11th is pretty straightforward hole if one is careful. Playing down from the tee over the undulating fairway, one goes up an incline to the guarded green. Working one’s way through the Jack trees, one generally can make bogey at the very least.

Number 12 is another brilliant 210 yard Par 3 played off a high tee. Don’t try stunts with anything but your long irons guys because there is a wicked drop to the left, which will cause you to abandon all hope if you land there. It is far more sensible to whack short of green, chip up and putt in for Par. Tra la la. What fun!

The Par 4 – 430 yard 13th hole invites you to drive downhill with the big dog but preferably one must send a mid iron across on the second shot, flying the ball just high enough to plop on the green. (I did this nice sounding plop on the green bit in 5, to make triple bogey because as seemed to be the order of the day, I was battling the long, knee high buffalo grass yet again!)

The signature hole of Victoria Golf Club is supposedly the Par 4-393 yard 14th! However, the 4th hole, simply because of its beauty and terror closely juxtaposed, is a strong contender for the title of Signature hole. It shall, at least for me, remain the real signature hole on this course! At the 14th, a narrow coconut tree lined valley invites one to do a serious bit of thunking, but the wicked little natural rock formation to the left before the dogleg ends all hopes! Doglegging left to get to the green one lands up trying to skitter the ball on the green from behind the majestic Mara tree right there. Disaster man! I made a triple! Horrendous!

The 15th which is a 553 yard Par 5 is a brilliant hole offering rather gorgeous low land views of the Reservoir with its surrounding necklace of misty mountains and a portion of the extreme edge of the Driving range as well can be seen from the tee. Ideally one plays to the left onto the fairway, freeing one up to go over the sharp wadi (a natural water course which allows rain water run off to drain direct into the reservoir but remember, the fabled buffalo grass abounds both left and right of fairway. Move sharp right onto the fairway past the dividing watercourse and then you can be on the green in three if you're a bit of a Wolf! Or as someone else in he group behind us did, one can get rather beautifully tangled up in the coconut palms on the right and left. Sheer fun this challenge!

Hole 16 – we reached huffing and puffing since this is a long course, which requires a decent level of physical fitness in order to be enjoyed. Shallow green Par 3 – 195 yards. Deceptive. Watch the bunker on the left boys, please! Somewhat similar to the 8th hole at Coorg Golf Links in Coorg though that is a Par 4.

The 17th – 441 yard par 4, is a super-brill downhill drive through the coconut palms but be cautious of the chaos on the left side and right side of this exhilarating hole since the dear old buffalo grass lurks here too, apart from some completely wicked bunkers, just waiting to catch the poor lost souls of golf like me unawares. Death by Grass it seems – like my Death by Water experience in Thailand! Terrible score, which I wont even reveal, lest I lose my coveted position as the Founder President of the Duffers Golf Club!

The 18th and ultimate hole of the dear old Victoria is a long 545-yard Par 5. Huff Puff Huff Puff I went, since I had walked through in slightly sultry conditions and covered a distance of nearly 6500 yards by then over undulating terrain! A clear valley beckons and tempts you like the Sirens in the old Greek Myth who tempted Ulysses, to pull your driver out, set up and try to hit the cover off the ball. A good drive (not my drive) should land you on fairway centre and then cause you to play up the valley onto the pretty clubhouse green with its collar of coconut palms around the bowl in which it is set. I think I had a disagreeable 8 on this hole because of the death guff again, but it was without a doubt an exhilarating experience, purely on account of the sheer natural beauty of the place, one’s close communion over several hours, with nature and the sheer enjoyment of the game of golf.

I will tell you one thing and clearly. It has certainly motivated me to go right back and play this course all over again and soon, if I can manage that!

28th October - The After Party – Mahaweli Reach Resort, Kandy.
Of course after these strenuous few days of driving across Sri Lanka’s pretty countryside and more often than not, crowded and broken roads, and playing several taxing though enjoyable rounds of golf, nothing could possibly have been more welcome to us weary souls than the superbly organized prize distribution party hosted by Srilankan Airlines at the Mahaweli Resort in Kandy.

The winners of the tournament were suitably felicitated with the usual speeches and glowing tributes made to their skill, sportsmanship and competitive spirit, all in the great spirit of bonhomie unique to the Sri Lankan people!

The winners according to the main levels of competition were:
Prize
Golfer
Best Score for the Day
Ian Tait (Sco)
Longest Drive (Ladies)
Pat Rodgers (UK)
Longest Drive (Men’s)
Alain Gyi (Fra)
Nearest to Pin (Ladies)
Pat Rodgers (UK)
Nearest to Pin (Men’s)
Romesh Abeyratne (SL)
Senior Division Trophy (Ladies)
Ling Joon Too (Chn)
Senior Division Trophy (Men’s)
Rohan Athuraliya (SL)
Best Aggregate Nett Stable ford Score (Ladies)
Lin Joon Too (Chn)
Best Aggregate Nett Stable ford Score (Men’s)
San Gunaratne (SL)
Best Aggregate Gross Stable ford Score (Ladies)
Suwen Selvaratnam (SL)
Best Aggregate Gross Stable ford Score (Men’s)
Khun Monkol Varee (Tha)
Overall Winner (Ladies)
Suwen Selvaratnam (SL)
Overall Winner (Men’s)
Khun Monkol Varee (Tha)

The typical generosity and large heartedness of the people of our little neighbouring island nation was more than evident in the catchy music, the easy living lifestyle, the flowing rivers of the rather excellent bacchanalian kind straight from the establishments of the Chivas brothers, Scotland, the tottering mountains of superbly crafted dishes of exotic meats and fish, the unobtrusive and caring service of the waiters and sous-chefs manning the food counters………… I can go on and on and on, but sadly I have a clear and finite number of pages, which I am allowed, by the kindness of ‘mon patron’, Hari!

A superb setting and a whole evening of fun, laughter, drinks, much dancing and great food gave this rather excellent annual event a fitting finale. Well-done Srilankan! “Bohama Stuthi” as they say in the soft sounding Sinhala language– Thank you most kindly for a very well organized, extremely enjoyable, brilliant golfing and cultural experience.

Golf at the Emirates Golf Club - Dubai

2006-12-28T23:30:00.000-08:00

A recent golfing experience at The Emirates Golf Club, Dubai.13th Nov 2006.

Visiting Dubai recently on work, quite by chance, I was introduced by a mutual friend to a fine gentleman by name Mr Asim Pirmohamed, an avid 13 handicapper. On finding that I enjoyed golf, Asim kindly invited me for an afternoon round at the famous Nick Faldo designed “Wadi” course at the Emirates Golf Club on the day I was leaving. Since I had a flight only at night I was very pleased to agree promptly.

Arriving at the Emirates Golf Club, situated around 40 minutes out of downtown Dubai, I was struck at first by the sheer brilliance of these people, who, with considerable foresight, intelligence and of course, capital, have literally carved out an oasis of comfort, greenery, rich and verdant fairways, slick and beautiful greens and other examples of lush scenic beauty in the middle of absolutely nowhere, in that sea of sand, by way of their Wadi golf course. Wadi means a sort of shallow but often dry watercourse, which thus becomes a sort of shallow valley.

Having gone there on business I had not planned at all on golf and in consequence had absolutely no equipment at all with me, a fact that was soon set right by the kindness and generosity of Asim, who brought along his brother’s excellent Ben Hogan muscle-back Irons and a Titleist 10.5 Degree Driver and a couple of woods for me to use as well as a pair of number ten golf shoes which he inveigled the club into lending me. Luckily I had stopped at one of the golf shops with which the area is absolutely bristling and picked up some balls, a glove and some tees.

We met at the beautifully appointed, frankly rather opulent, clubhouse which has a distinctive architectural design, built as it is like a “Majlis” or meeting place of Bedouin Arab Tents, made of course, of concrete, glass and steel and centrally air-conditioned to cocoon one from the pervasive warmth of the outer regions! Quite in character with the region and I am glad they have paid such attention to detail. It is a real pleasure to see the meticulous way everything is dealt with in those parts. The interesting thing is there are two courses here at Emirates, the “Majlis” course where greats like Tiger and the other Big boys play the Dubai Desert Classic, and the “Wadi” which is equally nice, but not so much used for the big tournaments.

We went straight along to the Wadi Driving Range – another brilliantly organized setup as I saw. Bashing a few balls on the range it was nice to see the entire ball picking process which is achieved quite simply by a ball gathering machine which buzzes around (sometimes dangerously close to where one is hitting) and collects all fallen balls.

Picking up one of those nice little electric Golf Carts, we loaded up with our clubs, water, cigarettes and what have you and went straight off to the 4th Tee where we were to start our round. These Golf carts come loaded with everything you can possibly want, including a superlative GPS system which kicks in as soon as you reach any particular point of the course, giving you precise yardages and pointing out other things on the course which enable you to make the best choice of club and best decision for any particular shot. The cart also affords one a very easy means of getting around the course with the minimum of fuss and so on – truly a luxury seeker’s paradise, especially for people like me who are used to the travails with the local caddies who lug my clubs along on my trolley and emit low growls and gnash their tobacco stained teeth at me whenever I venture to go so far as to question tentatively, their club suggestions. This Cart and GPS and stuff were seriously high tech!

However having said all this and with all due respect to their achievements and the facilities available there, personally, I would always prefer to walk a course and play every shot by walking up to the ball because that, to me, is the very essence of the game. All these high tech gizmos and gadgets are fine as an experience, but to me, battling the elements, on your own, with or without a caddy, judging yardages and lies with your own eyes, through deep roughs and steep slopes, fast greens and guffy fairways and all that, is Golf!

The 4th is a pretty decent semi dogleg Par 4 of some 345 yards but that day all the pins were closer to the front of the green so one had to allow some leeway. The fairway itself is heavily guarded with bunkers to the left, a wadi (waste land) to the left of fairway and water to the right. I frankly didn’t do all that great with my first shot having been a rather wayward one which missed being out of bounds by a mere whisker!

The 5th is a long-ish Par 5 of 523 yards where you simply must thunk the ball with the big dog! Generous fairway, huge area and all that, but some nasty little surprises on your second, with water and bunkers guarding the approach! Tough green too, built for 3 putts, but with my current form, by George! I wont even broach that subject!

Arriving at the 6th (Par 4 – 427 yards) one realized soon enough that the best way to play this hole was to the percentages because one requires great accuracy. Asim of course made par where I was all over Timbuktu and back! The 7th is another par 4 of 403 yards, which is a slicer’s nightmare since death by water is highly possible if one is marginally off one’s concentration levels! By this time I was enjoying the scenery and had decided that whatever the score card looked like, I would simply relax and have a good time – after all it is not every day that one gets to even walk on a course as superbly maintained as this one! Imagine such fairways, water and greens in the middle of the desert! Amazing!

The 8th was a redeeming hole for me – a beautiful par 3 of 153 yards that lies with the green uphill. Made for my 7 iron since I only take a half swing typically. Then a chip and putt and home! Asim got the same!

Number 9, a 350 odd yard Par 4 has some unpredictable things happening. Wasteland to the right side, unpredictable sloped lies on the fairway and a host of things. Somehow I was rather wayward that day and literally got myself a good experience of “desert golf” landing in the Wasteland or at the edge of it most of the time with my Tee shots. I have no idea why, but anyway, I thoroughly enjoyed myself.

Moving rapidly with the assistance of the cart through the 10th, which is a 473-yard Par 4 with a stroke index of 1, of course my score was monstrous but this is considered the toughest hole on this course. The 11th is a wild hole which can trap you in water quite close to the green or leave you trying to do a desert safari with your sand wedge, since there is a completely wicked and deep bunker guarding the right of the green. Man, I really know now what it means to have played Desert Golf!

Number 12 is a pretty par 3 of 150 yards – with a slight headwind, which had come up by, then, it was a good idea to over club a bit and get there but the brilliantly sloped green was my undoing while Asim again made Par! The 13th is another super mean Par 5 of 550 odd yards – Faldo has been known for his special style of bunkering on his golf course design and this hole is a brilliant example of that. Guarded very well, this requires a lot of confidence and accuracy, both attributes, about which frankly I was beginning to wonder by this time!

The 14th (Par 4 – 367 Yards) is guarded both by a monster bunker in the fairway and a wadi to the right of fairway which is like wasteland. Added to this is a lovely bit of water right there in the middle to drown one’s second shot. However my game by this time had deserted me completely so I was battling things in the wadi where Asim was laying up for his brilliant second shot. He had a par as usual and I was thinking I might need to consider giving up Golf altogether!

Then we were onto the 15th (Par 4 –399 yards), which is very visually attractive, though there are some beastly bunkers hanging around in the neighbourhood, particularly the one running along the edge of the left side of the green. Asim was busy making pars and so on and I (woe of woes) was busy living up to my current position as President of the DGC (Duffers Golf Club, to the un-initiated). Terrible, but I am glad that a couple of little recoveries yet lay in store for me, especially at the long Par 3 17th (218 yards). Bashing away with the dear old 4 iron, I was close on the tee shot, on in two and somehow managed a bogey which going by current form, was literally manna from heaven!

With another four holes to go I was beginning to feel some effects of the dry warmth of the desert though the weather there was extremely comfortable – rather like New Delhi in September or so. But quaffing vast quantities of water, I went on, grimly gritting my teeth and ensuring that I at least finished each hole thereby trying to make a statement to this brilliant Faldo course, that I was still in the battle, if not winning, at least fighting and refusing to give up!

Moving then towards the end of the round, I stuck to my 4 iron off every tee, hoping for the best, but somehow on the first hole which is a left dogleg 411 yard Par 4, I landed in the Wadi again leaving me to pitch out or roll out, I decided on the latter so I thunked the 7 iron out and got back in the game. Hole number two was another lovely Par 3 of 206 yards with a bunker guarding the green to the front and left and the green itself having a wickedly designed run off area at the back. Tee off, Chip and Putt is the name of the game and luckily I managed another bogey on this, to try and save myself in a last ditch effort.

Ending the round on Hole number 3 was for me a bit of a problem since my wayward tee shot ran off the right side of the fairway into the watercourse, which of course caused me to drop a shot and then play up for another double bogey while my patient friend made another par!

All in all, though as you can see, I played abominable golf, I thoroughly enjoyed my game and the congenial company of Asim who is today a good friend. Frankly there is a lot to be said for that old saying about knowing more about a person from one hour of sport rather than a whole year of any other interaction. Thus I do hope one day soon, to be able to play host to this kind man in Bangalore whenever he visits!

I will end by saying that it really is my privilege and pleasure to have been afforded a chance to enjoy the Wadi course and I do hope someday I am able to sample the delights and hazards that the Majlis course has to offer!

A Golfing Sojourn in Sri Lanka - My Experiences

2006-12-28T23:29:00.000-08:00

Sri Lanka - A Golfing Sojourn.

Imagine my extreme pleasure and surprise when I received a phone call absolutely out of the blue from Mr Hari Achanta of Golfline Magazine, apologizing for the short notice and asking me most tentatively if I would be interested in visiting Sri Lanka to play some golf on an all expense paid basis!

I mean, hey, who in his right mind would grumble at a Business Class ticket on Srilankan, First Class Hotels everywhere, a Private Chauffeur driven Car completely at my disposal and loads of Golf thrown in at some of the most scenic golf courses in the South Asian Region – all of this completely on the house! Wow!

Completely sponsored by Srilankan Airlines, this was truly a brilliant opportunity for an enthusiastic golfer, traveller and hobbyist writer like me! Whoopee, I said, grinning to myself from ear to ear and with some difficulty, desisted from doing handsprings on the roadside! At once I asked permission from the office too, which happy to say, I was given, by the kindness and large-hearted-ness of my bosses at Madura Garments where I work!

Well, I experienced at first hand the gentle hospitality of these soft-spoken, kind hearted and immensely charming islanders as soon as I hopped onto the Srilankan Airlines flight from Bangalore on 24th October, right from the first gentle “Ayubowan” (meaning welcome), onwards. Lugging my trusty golf clubs, many boxes of golf balls, tees, assorted clothing, shoes and golfing paraphernalia, I was thoroughly pleased to be going. It would be rather remiss of me if I didn’t at this point, mention the kindness of the Sri Lankan Airlines team, especially Mr Chandana De Silva, Mr Lalit Fernando and Mr Niroshan Ranawake in enabling so many varied and enjoyable experiences for me in a thoroughly enjoyable manner, during my 5-day sojourn there.

This superbly extravagant annual effort by Sri Lankan Airlines on their Golf Classic Tour teed off on the 25th and holed out on the 28th of October 2006. An experience par excellence, if I may say so, which enabled more than 200 Golf enthusiasts from points of origin as far and wide as the UK, US, Scotland, Hong Kong, Japan, Qatar, Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Bahrain, France, Switzerland, Germany, Kuwait, China, Malaysia, India and Sri Lanka, to meet in the true spirit of fellowship and play the game we all love so well amidst some truly beautiful and sylvan surroundings!

Part I.
25th October – The Royal Colombo Golf Club, Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The Royal Colombo Golf Club is the oldest in Sri Lanka. Founded in 1879 in a far more spacious era than we shall ever experience again, it has recently celebrated its 125th Anniversary. It has the style and grandeur of days gone by and is one of the most beautiful club houses I have seen, built in the typical colonial bungalow style, with wide verandahs and lovely sloping tiled roofs, with eaves and – absolutely brimming with character. Like someone said, Tradition cannot be built overnight, it has to be earned, day-by-day.

Arriving there on a fine sunny (if slightly sultry day) at 12 noon, I was met by Mr Chula De Silva, the General Manager of the Club. I was assigned a caddy and directed to the 10th Tee to begin the round with the back nine. However, owing to circumstances, I was forced to embark on my round on this lovely Par 71, 6300-yard course, alone with the caddy.

Stepping up to the 10th I attacked the Short par 4 of 332 yards with my 4 iron. Bounded by trees on either side, an accurate shot is called for, which luckily came through and then it was smooth work to make par.

Then I meandered through the scenic 11th and 12th holes, braving the hazards, bunkers and waterways. Pushing on, through the noonday sun. I then observed another die-hard midday golf nut like me, wandering along the 12th fairway all by himself so I hollered across, asking him to join me since he was playing alone.

Mr Paul McManus of the British Council thus stepped up and introduced himself and we moved along in a companionable way to the 13th, which is a brilliant Par 3, with a daunting expanse of Water in between the tee and the green. Bashing it off the tee, I ended up on the left of the green while poor Paul had a rather deeply plugged lie on the bank of the water body. We continued plodding on through the next few holes, racking up scores we will never frankly confess to, but enjoying ourselves thoroughly.

There’s an old Noel Coward Song which goes “Only Mad dogs and Englishmen go out in the midday sun……….” Though Paul is a Scotsman, it kind of figures ------ forgive me Paul, I simply couldn’t resist that dig at you Anglo Saxon chaps!

The 17th is a long-ish Par 4 – somewhat similar to the 18th at Pinehurst in Thailand but without the watery bits, where one needs to position the tee shot slightly left, in order to have a clear approach. Very tough, and we both ended up with some ghastly score on that.

Back then to the 18th (clubhouse) green, a beautiful elevated green with the clubhouse behind at which, stopping briefly for a break and some soft drinks for our caddies and water for ourselves, we went along to the first Tee, to play the front nine.

The first hole is brilliant – a beautiful drive landing us short of the waterway, which crosses the fairway, and then an easy rescue shot across the water to hit the edge of the green and plop, roll back into a watery grave. This was a dampener but completely undaunted despite a stroke lost, we played off again and went through with a double bogey.

The beautiful second hole (Par 4-396 Yards) has an unique phenomenon because the Colombo to Kandy, Kelani Valley Railway line passes along the fairway on the right, serving as an “out of bounds” indication. It is interesting to pause during a round to observe the 3pm train chug along the line, never tooting its horn. (I’m sure the train driver makes a concession to the unspoken dictum of gentlemanly silence on the golf course, a gesture so typical of these gentle islanders, who are such natural gentlemen). In addition there is a pond before the green so one’s second shot has to carry that in order to reach the green in a reasonably respectable way.

The 4th hole is a lovely Par 3 (198 yards) where we both clunked the ball with the number 4, to compensate for a slight breeze which had come up and in order to break with the guarding bunkers, both of us making a par.

The 6th hole is a 285-yard par 4 with a waterway to carry and several bunkers lurking around to catch you! A lovely thing about this hole is that the green is close to the perimeter wall, behind which is a beautiful, colourful Buddhist Temple. On that day, one could see the red stupa over the wall, but tempted as I was to peer over the wall, we heard the sad music of a funeral taking place in the temple and thus, deemed it disrespectful to take a gander over the wall.

The next few passed without major incident and we moved along to the 8th hole, which is a 404-yard par 4 with a clubhouse green. Interesting hole with a waterway one needs to carry on the tee shot and then a few bunkers to avoid.

The 9th is a gorgeous par 3 (170 yards), which is quite a challenge to be on the green in regulation, but by some chance, both of us ended the round with a nice Par, bringing to an end a nice round at the oldest golf club in Sri Lanka.

Paul and I parted ways then, having promised to stay in touch and meet up if he was in India sometime or on my next visit (Hari Mon Patron – are you reading this or listening???) to Sri Lanka!

Part II.
26th October – Nuwara Eliya Golf Club, Nuwara Eliya, Sri Lanka.
Nuwara Eliya, meaning “City of Light” is situated in some beautiful tea plantation country, high up in the hills at 6500 feet (2070 metres) above mean sea level. Tea plantation clad hills, in manicured verdant green, crisp, nippy weather and air like vintage champagne was Nuwara’s first greeting to me, slightly cold and stiff as I was after a thrilling four and a half hour ride up from Colombo in a middle aged Toyota Hi-Ace Van, driven by the friendly and knowledgeable Mr Victor of Jetwing, the operational partners of Srilankan Airlines.

For me it was like a homecoming, since I grew up in the planting districts here like Munnar, Anamallais and the Nilgiris. I turned up at the NEGC at about 1 pm to meet Mr Devaka Wickramasuriya, the dapper, nattily dressed and immensely courteous Club Secretary.

October being the mid-rainy season in Sri Lanka, most sensible people play a round only in the mornings, not in the afternoons, because as I was soon to find out, the rain arrives in what can best be described as semi-impermeable sheets around 3pm and doesn’t stop till well past 6 when it is as dark as pitch. I thus played the round on my own, with the caddy.

This Par 70, 5520 metre long golf course is a very old course, established by British Tea Planters in 1889, beautifully maintained and from my observation, not a single one of the old standards of quality, service and “club life” as we knew it, have been allowed to drop. The clubhouse is again a picture post card pretty, bungalow style building with lots of beautiful panelled wood and high standards of upkeep and maintenance. A point worth mentioning is that this clubhouse, rather like our own KGA, has a clear view of all 4 fairways, 2 going out and 2 coming in. Quite an achievement, to have been able to create this, in the hill country.

The club and the golf course are somewhat similar to the Ooty Gymkhana, Wellington Gymkhana, Kundale club in Munnar or any typical hill golf course, complete with guffy lies, uphill and downhill lies, undulating fairways, wild roughs, wickedly thorny gorse bushes, interesting tee box positions and of course, some very beautiful, scenic holes. (Thankfully though, there are no nasty little leeches and other such examples of god’s unpleasant creatures!) Tall trees and other assorted vegetation abounds in all nature’s verdant glory, set off by the beautiful weather and rich rainfall prevalent in this part of the world. The course also has the unique distinction of having 6 holes where the river water comes into play. One feels a very old world, very colonial and wholly enjoyable experience, if one likes or is used that sort of thing. They prefer using the Metric system here to measure distances which is why all distances mentioned in this note on Nuwara are in metres.

What I was most pleased to observe, was the superlative standards of maintenance of each fairway, each green and the sheer quality of everything. Like one would normally expect only at an international city golf course, the caddy even carried a bag of sand to fill up divots and a pitch mark-repairing tool.

Mr Myilvaganam, the resourceful, smiling caddy assigned to me, and I went straight along to the first Tee, (having first made arrangements for some sandwiches and tea to be brought along to us at the Golf hut on the 11th).

A straightforward Par 4 of 419 metres, bounded by trees and the clubhouse behind, which wonder of wonders, I managed to par.

Interestingly we were joined here by a small black canine person of indeterminate ancestry, who then proceeded, wagging his tail, to trot along with us throughout the round, pausing every time I paused to hit a shot and strolling along with us along the course – truly man’s best friend.

The 4th hole is an interesting one, where you hit off a high tee box with the green being to the right – 315 metres away. Immediately on one’s right is a bank of trees and then a private vegetable garden which is completely out of bounds, so one must be careful to place one’s shot well to the left in order to approach the green on one’s second. This hole funnily enough can be loosely compared to one of the Par 3 holes at Coorg Golf Links Kodagu (I’ve forgotten which one for the moment though), because there one has to drive over a banana plantation (out of bounds) to get to the green.

Then the rain began, at first a drizzle and then slightly heavier, but whipping out our umbrellas we meandered along in this peaceful way through the course, racking up some pretty decent scores despite having never played the course before, and of course, drinking in the scenery and pausing regularly for photographs. I’m glad I had the foresight to wear a pullover to keep me out of the chill, which combined with rain, has done in many a golfer in the past.

Reaching the 9th, which is a pretty 111-metre Par 3, we putted out for par and then moved straight up to the 10th, which is a clean 236-metre Par 4. Attacking with my old and trusted number 4, and taking a clean approach wedge to the green, I still made 5 because by this time the rain was coming down quite heavily. Very much like Munnar I must say.

We slithered up the muddy tow paths to the 11th Tee and the cute, though leaky golf hut, where my canine companion proceeded to shake himself dry, and consequently covering me with fine drops of water off his coat. Naughty chap.

Myilvaganam, me and our canine pal then paused to have a hot cup or two of lovely high grown, delicately flavoured leaf tea from one of the neighbouring tea estates and a couple of chicken sandwiches, all of which were cheerfully brought there by the club steward. This kind of service can only exist in places like these, the lands that time apparently has forgotten and which are full of a certain kind of old world charm which I am very privileged to have experienced and been a part of for much of my life and now as well.

Attacking the 11th hole with my dear old Cleveland driver, I was flying the ball through pouring rain, trusting to instinct and not being able to see much at all, just clobbering the little white sphere in the general direction of the green. Putting was an interesting experience, since all the greens by now had become waterlogged and consequently very slow, so one had to seriously whack the ball with the putter to get it to move any distance at all!

The most beautiful, “signature” holes at Nuwara Eliya are the 13th and the 14th where one shoots of high tee boxes with some brilliant scenery visible. The tight 176 metre Par 3, 13th is challenging enough without having rain to complicate matters for one so I ended up with a double. The equally gorgeous long 14th (401 yards, Par 4) I was pleased to be able to bogey.

By this time of course we were all soaked to the skin in the rain, which was coming down in buckets– me and Myilvaganam through our clothes and our canine companion through his fur. Despite a massive umbrella and so on, frankly unless one is attired suitably in a wetsuit and waterproof shoes, there is absolutely no go.

Arriving a long last at the 17th green we came across the interesting sight of four little canines huddled together under a large spreading tree for shelter from the driving rain and accompanying chill. They looked at us with a rather strange expression, as if asking themselves what on earth it can be that motivates golfers to brave the high wind, rain and chill, and battle on doggedly through a golf course, first hitting and then looking for a tiny little white sphere all the time carrying a heavy bagful of strange looking clubs and other instruments! The imposing Grand Hotel, built in the elegant Mock Tudor style, which is the hotel for the “Swish-Set” in Nuwara, overlooks the 17th green.

We attacked the 18th then whose fairway is abutted on each side by banks of tall evergreen trees with the main road lying just beyond the tree line to the right side. A nice Par 5 of 400 metres caused me to come up onto the green in 5 and double bogey my last hole at Nuwara. As we walked along the fairway, I could see the twinkling lights of the clubhouse, through the steady rain and I can tell you, they were my beacon signifying home, warmth and comfort! Bidding goodbye to my friendly 4 legged partner and Myil as I had now begun to address him, I went off to wring out the water from every item of clothing I was wearing. Nuwara has been ranked one of Asia’s finest Golf Courses and I would wholeheartedly endorse this opinion.

Part III.

27th & 28th October - Victoria Golf and Country Resort – Digana, Kandy, Sri Lanka.

On to Victoria then, from Nuwara at 530 am on the 27th, in order to avoid the chaos of traffic and to reach Kandy early enough to warm up and relax before the round. Reached finally at about 1040am with my Tee time of 11am!

The Victoria Golf and Country Resort is located in Rajawella, Digana in Kandy, the little hill Kingdom in Sri Lanka, a lower elevation hilly area where a massive hydel project was begun some years back with the Victoria Dam and Reservoir. The Golf course per se was designed by the renowned Golf Course Architect, Donald Steel in 1997 and I do believe that he had his task cut out, working through mist clad mountains, brilliant natural rock formations and some equally interesting wildlife!

Opened in 1999, this Par 73, 6945 yard golf course is a masterpiece of landscaping, built and maintained to USGA standards and rated in the Top 100 Most beautiful courses in the world by Golf Digest and Asian Golf Monthly – with very good reason I may say, since I was simply overwhelmed by the sheer beauty and contrasting landscape. The most arresting point is that it is blessed with towering mountains as well as brilliant views of Water all along the course.

The golf resort has some lovely cottages in the typical Swiss chalet style and even offers other sports like trekking and equestrian sports since this is also the home of the Victoria Equestrian Stables. The clubhouse is a functional and smart one, smart and clean in terms of architecture and with the functionality and facilities required by the new-age luxury-seeking golfer.

Very ably managed by Mike Varney, a giant of an Anglo Saxon who is also a Tiger of a Golfer and a British PGA Professional, the maintenance of this place is simply fantastic. High quality shrieks at you from every aspect, right from the Driving Range offering beautiful views of the Reservoir, to the staff who are extremely pleasant, friendly and knowledgeable and the brilliantly maintained fairways and greens.

Thus, on 27th and 28th October I was able to play a round here along with the tournament, something which was kindly arranged for me as a very late comer by some kind gentlemen and now friends of mine, Mr Jehan Kumara, Mr Raju Chandiram, Mr Chandana De Silva and of course Mike Varney himself.

Nuwan, my small built caddy and I set off to make our way around this masterpiece of natural beauty combined with man made perfection. I played along with Mr Alan Sheppard, a fine gentleman of middle years and a young tiger-cub of a Golfer, Roshan De Silva who normally plays at the Royal Colombo.

The 1st Tee from behind the clubhouse required me to clobber my driver well into the middle so as to negotiate the right dogleg to the green. This Par 4 – 403 yards can be done with the Driver and Rescue / Long Iron. Beautiful putting surfaces and undulating greens do definitely require a lot of skill to keep the score low.

The Par 4 – 384 yard 3rd hole is a beautiful dogleg left where if one is a brave man, one may choose to clunk the ball well over the rise on the left, causing a short approach and definitely one less shot to reach the green in regulation. Woe betide you though if you don’t carry the rise and end up in the evil buffalo grass roughs that abound here. A tamarind tree to the right guards the green and one needs to be pretty accurate to get there placed well.

My favourite hole – the wickedly pretty Par 3, 116 yard 4th is called the “Terror” because it has a pocket hanky sized undulating green usually attacked by a 9 or Pitching Wedge. If you go right you will go straight into hell signified by deep devilish rough and of course the sharp drop direct into Victoria Lake! I was happy both times I played here to make par on this hole. (Largely I suspect because I had paid homage to the Water Gods prior to arriving here!) One simply must pause here, please, to take in the breathtaking views all around of the Victoria Reservoir and of course the surrounding mountains. Paradise regained, a la the late John Milton! Believe me, I cannot even begin to describe the beauty of this place!

Climb up to the 5th tee – and you need to decide whether you want to go left or right or centre of the knoll or mound in the centre of the fairway. Long hitters can get there, but be humble, gentlemen, is my sincere suggestion! This 314-yard Par 4 looks deceptively easy! Incidentally here I was almost snuffed out rather permanently by a ball hit by the chap in the group behind us who decided to drive off the tee with his driver just as our group was putting on the green. Ian Tait, the BPGA Tournament Official, a crusty Marlboro smoking Scotsman, had rather a lot to say about this to that poor gent, Steve Munro. Personally I take my hat off to Steve’s distance combined with accuracy.

The 6th Tee is also a deliciously high one, very tempting to pull out the “big dog” –with the fairway lying well below – maybe 100 odd feet below going into a nice long 473 yard Par 4 where your fate will be determined by your Tee shot and very little else. Very tough, as I found out to my cost!
The 7th is a pretty 182-yard par 3, which is rather straightforward despite a split-level green. Smartly attacked with a 4 iron, one should putt in to make par unless of course one is struck by ill luck.

One must simply take a break after the 7th since there is an excellently appointed golf hut with some seriously great snacks like hot dogs, puff pastries and practically any kind of soft drink. Lovely staff – so very solicitous for one’s comfort!

Move through to the 422 yard- Par 4, 8th where one simply tees up and clobbers the little white sphere – man, if you find the fairway centre you only need to launch the ball again over the two guarding Mara trees with your rescue or 5 wood to be on in regulation and make par. Not that I did, to be honest, but that was entirely due to the buffalo grass roughs and then getting trapped by the Mara trees – perhaps I didn’t pay sufficient homage to the Tree Gods and the Gods of the Buffalo Grass Roughs, because the combination of these were my complete undoing!

The 9th is a monster – Par 5 520 Yard hole. I was forced to scratch because of a wayward tee shot which caused me to enter the buffalo grass rather deeply and then of course, short of using a bulldozer or some other state-of-the-art earthmoving equipment, there was no way to get out! All it needs is accuracy, but then as we all know, this is easier said than done!

Pressing on then, to the back nine after a quick Banana and Water break to keep the energy reserves up and to bolster one’s rapidly weakening resolve to conquer the rest of the course!

Attack the 357 Yard Par 4 10th with either a Driver or a 3 wood if you tend to slice or hook, because it is important to be amongst the Jack Trees on the fairways so as to be on in regulation. True to my form that day, I promptly took a couple of practice swings and then simply let fly with my rescue, wishing to be humble. Humility doesn’t work, accuracy does, because as I found out to my cost, I was in the death–guff once again! Wincing and steeling myself again I ended up making a triple on the 10th!

The long 534 yard-Par 5 11th is pretty straightforward hole if one is careful. Playing down from the tee over the undulating fairway, one goes up an incline to the guarded green. Working one’s way through the Jack trees, one generally can make bogey at the very least.

Number 12 is another brilliant 210 yard Par 3 played off a high tee. Don’t try stunts with anything but your long irons guys because there is a wicked drop to the left, which will cause you to abandon all hope if you land there. It is far more sensible to whack short of green, chip up and putt in for Par. Tra la la. What fun!

The Par 4 – 430 yard 13th hole invites you to drive downhill with the big dog but preferably one must send a mid iron across on the second shot, flying the ball just high enough to plop on the green. (I did this nice sounding plop on the green bit in 5, to make triple bogey because as seemed to be the order of the day, I was battling the long, knee high buffalo grass yet again!)

The signature hole of Victoria Golf Club is supposedly the Par 4-393 yard 14th! However, the 4th hole, simply because of its beauty and terror closely juxtaposed, is a strong contender for the title of Signature hole. It shall, at least for me, remain the real signature hole on this course! At the 14th, a narrow coconut tree lined valley invites one to do a serious bit of thunking, but the wicked little natural rock formation to the left before the dogleg ends all hopes! Doglegging left to get to the green one lands up trying to skitter the ball on the green from behind the majestic Mara tree right there. Disaster man! I made a triple! Horrendous!

The 15th which is a 553 yard Par 5 is a brilliant hole offering rather gorgeous low land views of the Reservoir with its surrounding necklace of misty mountains and a portion of the extreme edge of the Driving range as well can be seen from the tee. Ideally one plays to the left onto the fairway, freeing one up to go over the sharp wadi (a natural water course which allows rain water run off to drain direct into the reservoir but remember, the fabled buffalo grass abounds both left and right of fairway. Move sharp right onto the fairway past the dividing watercourse and then you can be on the green in three if you're a bit of a Wolf! Or as someone else in he group behind us did, one can get rather beautifully tangled up in the coconut palms on the right and left. Sheer fun this challenge!

Hole 16 – we reached huffing and puffing since this is a long course, which requires a decent level of physical fitness in order to be enjoyed. Shallow green Par 3 – 195 yards. Deceptive. Watch the bunker on the left boys, please! Somewhat similar to the 8th hole at Coorg Golf Links in Coorg though that is a Par 4.

The 17th – 441 yard par 4, is a super-brill downhill drive through the coconut palms but be cautious of the chaos on the left side and right side of this exhilarating hole since the dear old buffalo grass lurks here too, apart from some completely wicked bunkers, just waiting to catch the poor lost souls of golf like me unawares. Death by Grass it seems – like my Death by Water experience in Thailand! Terrible score, which I wont even reveal, lest I lose my coveted position as the Founder President of the Duffers Golf Club!

The 18th and ultimate hole of the dear old Victoria is a long 545-yard Par 5. Huff Puff Huff Puff I went, since I had walked through in slightly sultry conditions and covered a distance of nearly 6500 yards by then over undulating terrain! A clear valley beckons and tempts you like the Sirens in the old Greek Myth who tempted Ulysses, to pull your driver out, set up and try to hit the cover off the ball. A good drive (not my drive) should land you on fairway centre and then cause you to play up the valley onto the pretty clubhouse green with its collar of coconut palms around the bowl in which it is set. I think I had a disagreeable 8 on this hole because of the death guff again, but it was without a doubt an exhilarating experience, purely on account of the sheer natural beauty of the place, one’s close communion over several hours, with nature and the sheer enjoyment of the game of golf.

I will tell you one thing and clearly. It has certainly motivated me to go right back and play this course all over again and soon, if I can manage that!

Part IV.

28th October - The After Party – Mahaweli Reach Resort, Kandy.
Of course after these strenuous few days of driving across Sri Lanka’s pretty countryside and more often than not, crowded and broken roads, and playing several taxing though enjoyable rounds of golf, nothing could possibly have been more welcome to us weary souls than the superbly organized prize distribution party hosted by Srilankan Airlines at the Mahaweli Resort in Kandy.

The typical generosity and large heartedness of the people of our little neighbouring island nation was more than evident in the catchy music, the easy living lifestyle, the flowing rivers of the rather excellent bacchanalian kind straight from the establishments of the Chivas brothers, Scotland, the tottering mountains of superbly crafted dishes of exotic meats and fish, the unobtrusive and caring service of the waiters and sous-chefs manning the food counters………… I can go on and on and on, but sadly I have a clear and finite number of pages, which I am allowed, by the kindness of ‘mon patron’, Hari!

A superb setting and a whole evening of fun, laughter, drinks, much dancing and great food gave this rather excellent annual event a fitting finale. Well-done Srilankan! “Bohama Stuthi” as they say in the soft sounding Sinhala language– Thank you most kindly for a very well organized, extremely enjoyable, brilliant golfing and cultural experience.

Golfing in Thailand - My Experiences

2006-12-28T23:28:00.000-08:00

Golfing in Thailand.

Recently a good friend and I were happily able to take a short Golfing holiday in the picturesque and tourist friendly Kingdom of Thailand.

We had fixed up our Golf via the world-wide-web and I had zeroed in particularly on two beautifully manicured golf courses, one located roughly North East and the other, North of Bangkok town. Most importantly, in the primary interests of our game, we carried with us a half set each, made up from our own golf clubs.

Alighting in the Land of the Royal Orchid, we were struck at first by the orderly chaos of the traffic and the man-made splendour of the buildings surrounding us.

Part I – President Golf and Country Club, Lumtoiting, Nong Chok, Bangkok. Saturday, 26 August 2006

At about 11am on that beautiful grey and overcast day, we called a regular cab from our hotel to get to the President Golf and Country Club situated an hour North East of Bangkok City by car. This is an idyllic setting, composed of four separate 9 hole – Par -36 golf courses, designed by Robert Trent Jones Jr. not to be confused with the famous Bobby Jones himself! Today it is one of the Top 20 Golf Courses in Thailand and a real pleasure to play!

For me, it was greatly gratifying, to be playing such a brilliant course designed by one of the best-known designers. The courses lie North, South, East and West. One typically plays a Pre-set combination of two directions in a round of 18 holes – having said that, I must mention that there is absolutely no “criss-cross” and the other regular issues one faces, of shared greens and so on, since there is simply no space constraint there at all. I must heartily commend the Thai people, for their immense foresight in the matter of their wholly tourism dependent economy!

My friend Mr Mathew and I first met Ms Ana, the lady who had kindly arranged the afternoon’s golf for us, then the caddies assigned to us, diminutive in stature and immensely respectful, their faces permanently creased in wide smiles (at us? for us? Or at their expectations of our state of play????). We were then introduced to our partners, Mr Khun and his son, Mr Ton. Bowing to each other to take the honour first we proceeded along to the North course for the first nine. A long straight par 5 with some wicked bunkers casually interspersed saw us through at bogey with our partners making par. The second, a lovely par 4, 349 yard hole with a slight dogleg right with a green guarded by water saw us home in doubles. Moving through the next few holes saw us through with a bunch of doubles with our partners playing steadily for par and bogey.

We reached the lovely 6th – Par 3 across deep water with a tiny green. My simple advice is, always appease the Water Gods before taking on such a dauntingly difficult task! Need I really say any more?

The 8th is a long par 4 with a pretty pine fringe on the left beyond the water bounding the fairway. A couple of bunkers strategically placed, added to the interest. The 9th is a long par 5, relatively straightforward but with a green well guarded on all sides by bunkers causing havoc for us and similar such members of the Duffers Golf Club!

We stopped then at the golf hut to re-vitalize our systems with some chilled water and a plantain fruit for some extra energy, (sorely needed to tackle the particularly dangerous, water hazard laden, East course.)

We were met squarely by a 290-yard par 4, bounded by water, with a wicked dogleg left to strike the green. We were under pressure at first but somehow managed a double bogey. Then we played the straightforward 11th and moved on to the 12th, where we were faced with an amazingly sharp right dogleg bounded with deep water on the right. The 13th is another super sharp right dogleg to the green and bounded with water! The Par 3, 14th is simply wonderful. An island promontory serving as a Tee box, straight over water to a pocket hanky sized green with a steep fringe – truly a hole for the Lion hearts amongst us! Interestingly the Par 5,16th hole is very similar to the Par 4, 13th the main difference is the length. Then we reached the Par 3, 17th where we were amazed to see almost an exact replica of the Par 3,14th, but here, instead of a steep fringe, we had to carry over some treacherous looking bunkers apart from hoping one would hit the ball so as to have enough “wings” over the deep water as well as the bunkers! We had a respectable bogey though on this one! The 18th is a pretty straightforward hole with a wide fairway. An interesting thing is that it is bounded on the left by water and between the fairway and the water, lies a long trench filled with sand, just to cause that extra bit of worry and ensure that one keeps well away on the right!

We played off the White tees and covered a distance of about 6000 odd yards over 18 holes. An elegant setting, a gentle looking golf course but with rather sharp teeth in that it abounded with hazards, plenty of water, millions of bunkers all over the place. Definitely a course not recommended for the faint, meek or unfit amongst us. But I’m glad I played it because it is important to be able to look challenges like this squarely in the eye and making them wilt (if possible)!

Thanking our partners Mr Khun and Mr Ton profusely and appreciating their decisive, sometimes daring and wholly skilful games, we meandered back to our hotel, bathed in that gentle sort of euphoria that can only come after a day of golf like the one we had enjoyed!

Part II – Pinehurst Golf and Country Club, Klong 1, Pathumthanee, Thailand. Monday 28th August 2006.

Bright and early on a fine Monday morning, around the time when most normal people perform their ablutions prior to setting out for work, some with happiness, some with purpose and some certainly with a not-so-attractive fit of Monday morning blues, Mr Mathew (my friend) and I set out, with the light hearted gait of a pair of errant schoolboys playing truant from the classroom, to play Golf, I ask you, in Thailand! Woof – I just loved the thought of me in my golfing kit and going off to enjoy a whole day of fun when others elsewhere, ploughed through the doldrums of their daily existence! Ha!

Well, a rather nice chap called Tom Peterson, (of the Sales Dept of “Golf a la Cart Ltd”, a company specializing in arranging golf for visitors to Thailand, had very kindly arranged for us to be picked up from our hotel by a Private Car (some serious cosseting, this) and get transported in comfort for about 45 minutes in a Northerly direction out of Bangkok City, past the Airport and so on, to a Jewel of a place called Pinehurst Golf and Country Club in a place called Pathumthanee.

Designed by the renowned Japanese Golf Course Designer Yoshibara Aihara, Pinehurst is typical of the genteel passion of the Japanese people for manicured floral extravagance, colourful and splendiferous yet symmetrical gardens, manicured shrubs, tended flowerbeds, shaped trees doubling as distance markers, beautiful bridged waterways and floating lotuses and lilies. The course spans three separate courses actually, North, South and West – each of 9 holes, the North being a Par 35 and the others, Par 36. A true Golfer’s Paradise, with birds chirping in the trees, warm, lush tropical weather (sometimes a bit muggy, it is true, but brilliant nonetheless) and superlatively maintained fairways, roughs, bunkers and greens. A beautiful setting indeed, for an extremely challenging and tight golf course - a dream course for the accurate hitter.

Our friendly, ever smiling Chauffeur, Mr Win, deposited us at the Main entrance and said he’d await our pleasure in the spacious car park. (It is damned good fun to pretend to be rich, even if one isn’t actually and personally, I can never have too much of the good life, I can tell you!)

We went straight to the Starter, presented our confirmation slip, met our friendly lady caddies and straightaway attacked the First (White) Tee of the North course, a Par 5, 351 yard mini dogleg right to the green. We were only a Twosome (being Monday as I said earlier) and since we play regularly together, just went out, attacked the ball with gusto and simply and uncomplicatedly enjoyed our golf!

The second is a short Par 3, Eight Iron hole which (since I had only a half set) I attacked with a Number 7, overshooting a little for a double. The third has water on all sides with a sharp-ish dogleg left on a Par 4. Nice one to attack with one’s driver being careful to hit the fairway since the possibility of rollover and kick into water is high. The fourth was just made for my trusty Cleveland over a pretty bridged waterway, flying onto the mid fairway to attack the green guarded on one side by a reasonable bunker.

The fifth, a 463-yard Par 5 is completely and deceptively wicked, causing you to pull out the “big dog” so to say, and thunk it straight down the middle! The fairway ends just short of the green to fall away into some brilliant water with an island green so do not hit a wild second shot with any old wood, but be humble!

The Par 4 sixth is very straightforward and relatively easy. Moving to the 7th, a very well designed Par 3 over water to the green, we were trapped for a bit in the bunkers guarding the green itself.

The eighth hole is a long 581-yard Par 5 with miles of fairway bounded by trees, with a sudden sharp dogleg left with a very long approach wood to the green. Disaster for both of us though, since we duffed it so badly we were forced to scratch, to save face! The ninth hole is a simple and straightforward hole to play, a par 4 350 yard, peaceable one!

It was a good feeling to play this course, in a reasonably face saving manner, bar one or two duffs.

Stopping briefly for a quick bite and some Coke and so on for our caddies, we went across to the West course for our second half. Fortified well by the rather excellent snacks available at the golf hut, we quite possibly were a little over-confident on our 10th hole, (the first hole on the West Course), a par 5, 499 yard monster, causing both of us to double.

The 11th and 12th holes passed without much incident and then we were onto the 13th hole, which is a 128 Yard Par 3 where I managed a bogey despite having gone onto the left of the green. This hole is an absolute beauty sitting right there, guarded on all sides by little knolls of grass, with water on the right of the fairway and surrounded by no less then 4 bunkers of varying sizes, shapes and depths, beautifully inset into the little grassy knolls themselves! The 14th is quite capable of dealing you the card saying death by water if you are not careful because some low-ish mounds bound it on the right, effectively concealing the lurking threat of the waterway on the right! The 15th is a long par 5 of 529 yards – very difficult so don’t ever underestimate it! Absolute hell, believe me. The 16th is pretty straightforward and a 358 yard Par 4, well met with a Driver, 9 iron and Approach Wedge for Par.

Onto the best hole of the day, the short Par 3 17th, (8th hole of the West course), which has deep water on the left side and in front between you and the green with a tough rough on the right. Two levels of Tee Box, meet you when you attack this hole. You can either play an 8 or 9 Iron from below if you feel confident, OR, as we did, you can play a 7 Iron from the Upper Tee, a turf-lined, concrete platform that serves as a roof to the lower tee box. Wonder of Wonders, both of us were on the green in regulation and went for the most pleasurable par we made that day!

The Par 4, Eighteenth hole again was rather deceptive. Keep left is the motto here, in order to remain on the fairway. Since it was the last hole for the day, I thunked my Driver down for a beautiful shot (or so I thought) heading slightly to the right, landing well on the springy fairway turf, only to bounce once, twice and SPLOTCH! over the last restraining knoll, off the steep fringe, into the water body that guards (and very effectively too), the 18th island green. Finishing with a Bogey despite a dropped stroke here was to me, an achievement in itself!

Then, four hours and about 6000 odd yards after we had begun it was onto some sorely required refreshment and a round of their excellently appointed Pro Shop to buy some little souvenir caps and tees and so on, for keepsakes and to top off our visit!

Thus ended another wonderful and enjoyable round of Golf and most importantly a round on a Monday, dull and dreary working day that it normally is! Enveloped in that dull afterglow of euphoria combined with the disappointment of having to tear one’s self away from such a nice environment, prior to packing one’s bags and leaving for the grind of daily working life at home, we drove slowly back to our hotel.

Since the pretty little Kingdom of Thailand is superbly equipped in terms of facilities and just brilliantly geared to meet all the needs of the enthusiastic Golf Tourist, it should certainly take pride of place on one’s list of “must visit” golfing destinations, if one is a dedicated golfer with a bit of a passion for travel as well. Indeed there are in excess of 50 or 60 world class Golf Courses/ Resorts/ Country Clubs in and around Bangkok City itself, located at varying distances. This is to say nothing of the other places there like Pattaya and Phuket and what have you!

Highly enjoyable and heartily recommended, is my considered view!

My Review of the book - Who's your caddy? By Rick Reilly.

2006-12-28T23:26:00.000-08:00

Who’s your Caddy? By Rick Reilly – A Review.

Rick Reilly, the long time, highly popular sportswriter from the famous Sports Illustrated magazine, and author of “Missing Links” and “The Life of Reilly” hooks you like a stoutly struck drive off the first tee on a glorious summer’s morning, in “ Who’s your Caddy?” his latest book.

Rather like the famous travel writer Bill Bryson, Rick is honest, normal and down to earth in his description and assessment of himself and regales us constantly with little jokes about all his monster mess-ups while researching for this book. To garner material for “Who’s your Caddy?” Rick assumes the persona of a ‘caddy-for-a-day’, to the “great, the near great and the reprobates of golf”, getting into the skin of a “looper” (as caddies are known in the land of Mac Burgers and Coke) and thus, getting closer to the ‘larger than life heroes’ of the golf course. Written in a semi hard-boiled, often irreverent and typical American style, Rick manages to infuse each page with a peculiar brand of humour, all his own.

The book moves at a fast pace through the golfing and other celebrity lives we all know about, read about, wonder about and hear about on the leader board and otherwise. Beginning with Grouchy old Tommy Aaron, the 1973 Masters Champion and moving to the humongous hamburger and diet coke swilling, but hugely capable John Daly, the book then picks up a great deal of speed, trumpeting loudly through the equally loud and ostentatious golfing life of Donald Trump, who it appears, habitually lives life at a 100 miles an hour and is as noisy about himself to boot! (Rather a cad and a crass sort of chap, I thought.)

We receive an interesting insight into the polite, gentlemanly and generous Tom Lehman, whose children really appear to be his life, panning then to a sensitive portrayal of the reclusive and garbo-esque David Duval and his long estranged father Bob with his apparent flamboyance and style which only exists in order to shield from the public gaze, the dark side of his terrible personal tragedy of losing his son, David’s older brother Brent, to aplastic anemia.

There is an interesting series of anecdotes about the Las Vegas Hustler and super gamblin’ man Dewey Tomko and his buddies who play stakes far beyond the dreams of avarice and indeed earn far more than the super golfers of competitive golf today but with a whole new twist to the Royal and Ancient Rule book! I learned here, a whole new meaning to the expression ‘greased lightnin’ – apparently Dewey and his high rollin’ pals grease up the grooves of their drivers, to enable really long and really straight shots, since the grease apparently cuts off the spin imparted to the ball on impact which causes a typical slice! (I may tell you by the way, that this doesn’t really work – I tried it this morning and where normally I’d have thunked my trusty Cleveland straight down the middle, I ended up slicing it into some trees on the edge of the fairway, so according to me, it ain’t such a good idea, after all and anyway it is a completely illegal practice.)

The chapter on one of my all-time personal favourites, the “Golden Bear” is one of Reilly’s best, ever, extolling Nicklaus’s legendary politeness with the press, his devotion to his kids, to the extent of missing tournaments to watch his kid play in a ball game and with a particularly moving anecdote about his generosity to his long time real life caddy, the perpetually improvident inveterate gambler, Angelo Argea.

Deepak Chopra on Golf, like most else about the New Age Guru, came across as, “Well, listen to him, sure, but hey, I’ll kind of reserve my own opinion” and indeed, proves to have feet of clay, (as far as golf is concerned anyway), since apparently he needs to check with his coach Wendy Werley the former LPGA Pro, before he does anything, anything at all, including keeping his mind and eye on the ball, when he’s on the course!

Appropriately named “Hell on Wheels”, comes an excellent and sensitive series of snippets on the tragically physically disadvantaged but superbly resilient and spirited Casey Martin – a real moving chapter, I may say, with his frightful disability and having to battle against the insensitive attitudes of the powers that be on the PGA Tour, apart from the pressure to perform on the Golf course.

A whole raft of information on the famed and mysterious “Bel-Air Club” follows, with all its big timer celebrity members through the ages, information shared with Rick who is now caddying for the super polite, self-effacing Bob Newhart – so much so that you begin to wonder how such a diffident man as Bob is a such a celebrity under the arc lights as a TV Personality! The quintessential opposite of Donald Trump- (in this book the chapter is aptly named “The Anti-Trump” – Brilliant!)

The penultimate chapter on Jill McGill, the only top LPGA golfer Rick caddies for, comes as a bit of a surprise and a bit of a let down, because at first blush, while humorous, it appears just a tad chauvinistic. However, Rick contrives to redeem himself by sharing the truth with us about the fact that while the lady golfer may not hit very long, in a manner calculated to put the wind up a typical testosterone filled Macho Man, she is still incredibly accurate and that’s what drops those vital strokes off her game, leaving Macho Man in the garage cleaning the old irons, as it were!

The best is saved until the last with Rick’s glowing tribute in a deeply moving chapter on a blind Vietnam Veteran, Bob Andrews, his never-say-die spirit, his movie star good looks, tragically marred by his loss of sight, his beautiful manners on and off the tee, the enduring and endearing mutual devotion between Bob and his wife Tina and the fact that for a Blind golfer, the Caddy is the equivalent of a “seeing -eye dog”.

The book is absolutely, side-splittingly funny and at the same time, achingly painful as well, with a healthy mix of both pathos and bathos liberally interspersed with a strange language called caddy –speak, which frankly sounds like Double-Dutch to the un-initiated, but thankfully, Rick provides the key below each such example.

Rather like a master conductor with his orchestra, Reilly manages to take you up and bring you down, with a touch as light as a feather and with the style unique to him, one of the most popular sports writers in the world!

All in all, a very good book, heartily recommended for your library list and I would certainly agree with the Fort Worth Star-Telegram in that it goes down faster than a cool Bud on a 100-Degree day!

Golfing in the UK (Painswick)

2006-12-28T23:24:00.000-08:00

A round of Golf at Painswick, Gloucestershire, England.

On a recent visit to Merrie England, I had occasion to play an enjoyable round of Golf at a lovely Course located in the heart of the Cotswold hills in Gloucestershire. The Painswick Golf Club was established in 1891 and today ranks as one of the Top 100 “Must Play” courses in the British Isles! Indeed, I was truly privileged to receive a chance to play there!

I was most pleased to receive an invitation from Mrs Ann Smith, the Hon. Sec. of the Painswick Golf Club to play there as a guest. I had contacted the club via email citing my life membership of the IGU a couple of weeks prior to leaving on my trip in the earnest hope of a round during the weekend when I was in the vicinity.

Indeed, I had absolutely no expectations of any sort and thus was very pleasantly surprised when Mrs Smith mailed me back and was kind enough to cajole the Captain of the course to lend me a set of clubs and had even arranged for me to get around the course with a local member!

With a happy heart, I packed my Golf Shoes and the usual assortment of Golfing accoutrements into my bags and set off, so to say, to the wide blue yonder.

The pretty little village of Painswick, with its ancient churchyard clad in fine old English Yew trees, and all its beautiful, warm buildings of the curiously yellowy beige Cotswold Stone, set off by the evening sun, is situated about an hour and a half by train from London.

I hopped off at the quaint little country station of Stroud to find myself surrounded by the balmy and scented summer evening countryside of England. My old friend from school met me there in his fancy Porsche cabriolet convertible and we drove straight through to stay that night at The Falcon Inn, a 16th Century hostelry in the little village of Painswick, quaffing some of the excellent locally brewed dark ales till a rather advanced hour. It was the Summer Solstice, long lazy days with the sun setting well past 9pm!

Presenting myself at the club at ten thirty sharp that fine, sunny Saturday morning, I met the club captain and my golf partner, a dapper gentleman of some sixty odd years, Mr Norman Hindmarch, who gravely introduced himself and welcomed me. My first sight was of the neat clubhouse, the lovely sweeping views of the Cotswold Hills, with the 18th Green in the foreground. Taking hold of the Captain’s retired set of solid Graphite Shafted Wilson Clubs and a Taylor made Burner Driver and mounting them on a trolley (there are no caddies in those parts), I went along to the first tee. A glorious sight indeed, for one who was playing the course for the very first time!

The ground rose sharply up and I attacked it with a number 3 iron, wishing to play it safe and landed on the brow of the rise, with the green in front of me, near some dangerous looking pits, hidden traps lurking unseen, waiting to snare the unwary or over-confident golfer!

(I shall not at this point own up to the scores that day, but suffice it to say I holed out from there in three putts, while my esteemed partner, with the ease of a pro, made par!)

The second hole came forth with a nice wide fairway, which my partner attacked squarely with his driver, while I played humble, hitting my number 3 again. An interesting hole with disused quarries on three sides.

We meandered there from around the course, with its breathtaking views from every possible vantage point till we reached the 5th – a brilliant blind tee shot over the ramparts of an old fort to the green above the brow. Mr Hindmarch regaled me with tales of how once in the dim distant past, people used to hurl spears at each other at that very spot, and now it serves as the setting for the genteel sport of Golf!

We chanced upon Mrs Smith along the way, while she was in the middle of her round that fine morning and I was happy for the chance to meet the kind lady who had enabled such a wonderful morning for me!

We then moved on to the 6th where Mr Hindmarch took a photograph of me at the highest point in the Cotswold hills.

The 7th, 8th and 9th holes passed without too much trouble except that with all that climbing in the 34-degree temperature I was (though pretty fit) beginning to feel the effects of the temperature and thirst. I ended up drinking all the water that Mr Hindmarch had very kindly given me as well as all the water he had brought for himself as well!

Now, we were onto the back nine with the 10th tee shot being similar to the 5th,inasmuch as it is a shot over the brow and the hill fort ramparts and then the interesting 11th hole where one needs to drive accurately over a kind of natural “saddle” formation on the hill.

Down then to 12 and 13, avoiding the lurkingly perilous quarries and onto the 14th, which is a nice drive from a high tee box with the green well below. Immense photo opportunities abounded around me!

Holes 15 and 16 were passed without undue worry and then BANG, I lost my ball to the treacherous woods. Sportsman that he is, Mr Hindmarch somehow contrived to do the same and we moved on in a companionable way to the 17th, which has a nice dogleg, left with a bank to the left of the green and a drop to the right. At this point I decided to horse around a bit and slid down the hill on the seat of my by then grass stained trousers, like I used to long years ago while in School in the blue hills of Ooty! Another photograph just after that psychological moment!

Rather weary and somewhat saddle sore by now, we moved along to the 18th tee – frankly I was about all in at this time, with the vision of gallons of cold orange juice or other suitable tissue restorers in front of me, just one hole beyond.

The beautiful par 3 18th hole is dominated by a large Oak Tree, sitting right in the middle – guarding a flat green which has a dangerous drop to the right of it.

Never had I felt so much like I was coming home, as I felt then when I plopped the little white ball on the green at long last!

Onto the traditional 19th then, to my good friend who had kindly waited for me and was lurking near the bar. Then there was much chaffing, quaffing and good-natured banter with the President of the Club, the Captain of the course and the genteel members. Many a kind round of chilled orange juice and a strange brew called J20, which I quite liked by the way, passed then, to ease the parched throat!

Indeed, it was a fine experience, which I would heartily repeat and re-live, for the fun, friendship, sportsmanship and the great time it afforded me! It really was a pleasant experience to be taken unto their hearth and home, so to say, as a visiting out-of-towner!

My deepest thanks to Mrs Smith and Mr Hindmarch for that most enjoyable Saturday morning!

Visit www.painswickgolf.com for more information on the club and the course. Even better, when next you’re in England, go and see the club for yourself. I will lay a 100 to 1 bet that as a golfer, you certainly will not be disappointed!

The Duffer'sGolf Club - Shanks Golf Blig

2006-12-28T23:03:00.000-08:00

Golfingly yours, I love playing golf and writing about the experiences and covering golf courses, the clubs and the general things one sees. In addition I love dogs and jeeps and have three dogs and drive a jeep. Im 35, work for a leading apparel company (Madura Garments) in Bangalore, India. Play golf every weekend and write as a hobbyist freelancer for a magazine called Golfline.