A New Golf Facility in Pune!

My friends Parag and Aditya started a new golf academy at Sindh Housing Society in Pune yesterday. This is a very exciting development for Pune residents for several reasons.

One of the major obstacles to golf becoming more popular in India is the availability of facilities to learn and pursue the game. As an example, Pune, a city of about 4 million people, has only 3 major golf courses accessible to the general public. Of these there is only one public course - the Poona Club Golf Course. There are no driving ranges or practice facilities outside these golf courses. In contrast, a sport like tennis has at least 25 academies around town. These tennis academies run regular programs for juniors.

The Golf Academy started by First Tee Golf (website http://www.firsttee.co.in) in Pune is a step in the right direction.

The academy has a pitching range of about 100 yards, bays with nets to practice full swing shots, a chipping and bunker practice area, and a practice putting green.

First Tee Golf plans to run regular programs at this facility which will enable many more people to learn and enjoy the game. I know several people living in the Aundh/Baner area who would be absolutely delighted to have this facility available - it will save them a lot of driving time.

For me, this is great. My son Siddharth and I can drive about 10 minutes to the First Tee academy and work on sharpening our game.

Good work Aditya and Parag!

Ouch!

Today was not a good day for me at the golf course. The weather was marvelous, the company was good, and I wasn’t playing that badly. However the round left me feeling very disappointed with myself because I abandoned my friend and playing partner Parag just when he needed me the most during the round.

I started playing golf about 2 years ago. As my game has evolved, so has my appreciation for the game as a great teacher. One huge difference between golf and the other sports I have played is that Golf Etiquette embodies one of my biggest core values – “Respect for the individual”. Respecting another’s right or Honor to tee-off first, waiting for your turn to play, staying close to the green until the last person in your group finishes, and other such principles are a necessary part of the game. Adhering to this etiquette is in no way meant to diminish one’s competitive instinct, but is a way to establish the ground rules to treat your competitors and playing partners in a way that you would want to be treated yourself. Isn’t this just the way one would want to live life? Play hard, do your best, but be humble and respect those around you.

Well, this morning Parag and I were playing in a four-ball that included another friend who I will refer to as Speedy Joe. Speedy Joe loves to play like he is the only person in the group. He always tees off first even if he made the worst score on the previous hole. Often he tees off even before the others have arrived at the tee. He loves to hit a practice ball when he doesn’t like how he hit the first one – off the tee, in the fairway, or on the green. He doesn’t usually wait for his turn to play. He often walks off to the next tee after having finished his putt, while others are still lining up their putts. It is not unusual for him to hit a practice chip or putt while another person in the group is about to hit his/her chip or putt. Speedy Joe plays in this fashion because “playing slower or waiting upsets his rhythm”.

After two holes, I got carried away and started sub-consciously imitating Speedy Joe’s behavior. On the par-5 12th hole, Parag lost his second shot in the thick rough on the left. As we were looking for the ball, the group behind us had teed off. Speedy Joe was by now within chipping distance, oblivious of what was going on behind him. Meanwhile Parag took a lost ball penalty and hit another ball into the rough on the right! While Parag was looking for his ball, the rest of us, including me, had given up on him and finished the hole. Parag joined us on the 13th tee, fuming and disappointed. Obviously we should have waited for him, and let the group behind us go through if required.

We did not treat Parag with respect. I should have known better.

Golf Anyone?

It is 5:35 AM on a damp monsoon morning in Pune and the crack of dawn is still 10-15 minutes away. The light drizzle outside might either stop or turn into something nastier in the next hour. Either way, I am going to drive 20 minutes to the golf course and play, unless they shut the course down. I have been out of my bed for about 35 minutes, already in my golf gear, waiting for my friend and playing partner Parag to arrive for a cup of tea. I am sipping my tea, thinking about the tee-shot I should hit on my first hole, the par-4 number 10. In my mind I am debating whether today is a good day to hit a 3-wood to the corner of the dogleg, which will put me in a position to hit a wedge to the green. Alternatively I might hit a mid-iron off the tee and go for the green only on my third shot. That will keep me out of the trees and deep rough on the left and right. My decision will depend on the current state of my game, or more precisely the current state of my mind about my game, which varies widely day to day.This is my typical morning three times a week.

I have been playing golf regularly for about 21 months now, and the game is in constant battle with my family for the number one spot on my priority list!

I played golf a total of 3 times in the late 90’s when I used to live in Utah, USA. I have been a decent sportsman all my life and therefore assumed that golf would be an easy sport. After all how hard can it be to whack a stationary ball a few hundred yards? I had watched golf on TV, and it didn’t seem like a big deal. Well, I made a 113 (on 9 holes) with mulligans on my third outing. It wouldn’t have been too bad, except I had Terry, a 7-handicapper playing alongside me. Terry was kind and patient, and appreciated the one or two halfway decent shots I hit that day. I never played again until late 2006, when a friend invited me to play 9 holes at the Poona Club Golf Course in Pune, India. I have not stopped since.

My game has come a long way since that summer morning in Utah in 1998, but it has not been without the trials and tribulations that are a necessary part of golf. As for my game, I currently play to a handicap of 24. My goal is to get to 18 soon. There are days when I play like I am almost there, and then there are days when I want to give up the game. It is a delicious struggle!

Why bogey golfer?

As I start sharing my thoughts on golf through this blog, I ought to explain why I chose this name for the blog. A bogey-golfer averages close to a bogey per hole, or in other words has a handicap of about 18.

I started playing golf almost two years ago, with a few lessons from the local pro in Pune. As I have progressed from being a beginner to an intermediate golfer with a handicap of 24, the one thing that has become abundantly clear to me is that golf is simultaneously a singularly frustrating and rewarding pursuit. My first official handicap was listed as 36, and shortly thereafter I got an opportunity to play in an invitational event organized by the brand of clubs I had purchased recently. The entry bar was set at 24-handicap, and I got in by listing my handicap as 24. Needless to say, I got my butt kicked pretty good during the event, but the experience was invaluable.

Over time my handicap dropped all the way to 24, and then creeped back up to 27, where it stayed for almost 7-8 months. The dreams of becoming a single-digit handicapper in 2 years were quickly put to sleep by a healthy dose of triples, quadruples, quintuples, and three-putts. Through the trials and tribulations of working on my swing, the endless putting practice, and the Sensex like fluctuations in my scores, I realized that becoming a bogey golfer in a reasonable period of time was a more realistice expectation. I also showed myself a little pot of gold at the end of the rainbow, by resolving to buy a driver once I reached a handicap of 18. Currently I am at 24 and there is some way to go to add the driver to my bag.

During this time I have also realized that becoming a bogey-golfer is a watershed event in the life of a golfer who is starting out. Some get to it much faster than others, but it is a very significant milestone neveretheless. At 32+ you are a glorified hacker, at 24+ you have promise and potential, but at 18 you have truly arrived as a serious recreational golfer. People look at you differently when you are at 18 or under.

Hence the name of this blog. This blog is intended to be a chronicle of my struggles and rewards, as I play this great game, and work on becoming a bogey-golfer. If you choose to leave a comment or have a conversation on this subject through this blog, I would be delighted.

Happy golfing!