Sunny Dua
Jammu Golf Course located amid serene beauty of Sidhra town and also on the left bank of river Tawi hosted some special guests other than politician, bureaucrats and entrepreneurs who had their week long firsthand experience at the course learning basics of Golf. The little champs joined by some youth drawn from different institutions had a wonderful experience handling clubs only to learn putting and drives on fairways and greens.
Ever since this 18-Hole Jammu Golf Course overlooking Amar Mehal Museum, Mubarak Mandi Heritage Complex and Old Jammu city on one side and Mahamaya Temple, Bahu Fort and magnificently designed rail track on other side was put to use by the professionals, this was for the first time that JK Golf Association (JKGA) brought an opportunity for the novice to learn handling clubs and learn secrets of this superlative sport.
And to top it with thrill, the Association members also organised a friendly match at the end of this week long coaching camp which was ably conducted by PGTI coach Sandeep Verma popularly known as Chimi who was especially flown in from New Delhi to train the beginners. The sport which is picking up with youth was introduced to young in Jammu most painstakingly by the organisers. It would not be wrong to admit that though it was short duration course, yet it gave the Golf an impetus.
The paramount part of this camp was that about fifty amateur Golfers of all age groups learnt fundamentals and other nitty-gritty of the sport from a professional golf coach. To begin with these young golfers were made to practice at a makeshift arrangement at the course only where they learnt ball positioning, choosing and bolding of right clubs, gripping combinations, controlling the speed of putts, correct Tee height for fairway woods, hybrids and aiming.
Chipping and putting remained an all time favourite amongst the beginners who even had a firsthand experience to play with professionals and also had a real fun in noticing their strengths and weaknesses. How to hit from fairway rough, how to make proper practice swing, how to play half golf swing, postures and correct distance from where to hit the ball were all taught to the beginners who showed keen interest in the sport.
Tough this sport is quite expensive yet the organisers from JKGA did their best in extending their moral support and also providing required infrastructure and allied material to the golfers which was highly appreciated by all. Caddies on the course and trainers sweated themselves out to help beginners have a great time learning Gold in Jammu. From this camp it was quite visible that there is definitely a potential in the sport but only if a consistency is maintained.
The JKGA officials including its Vice President, S S Wazir(Retd. ADGP), executive members Sanjay Wahi, R S Bali besides K K Khosa, Vinod Sharma, D S Bali and Deepak Handa might have let the children taste the sport by making a good beginning but they will have to maintain steadiness in caching them to finally sieve out best of the talent and launch them in the sport to represent Jammu and Kashmir.
The beginners like Muskaan, Neha, Prerna, Vedant, Narbhay, Vijay, Ragini Siddharth Dhar, Aashman Kapoor, Arsh Vimal, Vikram Kapoor, Dinesh Sharma. Divij Singh, Lavanaya, Raunak Gupta and Mehak Dua did their best yet they need consistency in their training to reach pinnacle of the sport and read their names amongst Jeev Milkha Singh or for that matter Tiger Woods. JKGA for the moment if functioning under the benefaction of its Patron Dr Farooq Abdullah, union minister for renewable energy and it is hoped that every effort would be put in to give Golfing in our state fillip.
For the moment Jammu Golf Course is having none holes ready for the play and work on remaining is also going on. The construction work on the club building also has been abandoned for paucity of funds but once it is completed, the state of the art infrastructure will come up in Jammu only to become golfers’ paradise. The state is having golf courses of international standards where ace golfers drawn from different parts of the world arrive and display their talent.
Once Jammu Golf Course is completed, it will also benefit many budding golfers and provide junior golfers a lifetime opportunity to learn incredible golf instructions from professionals. The best part of this coaching campo was that all the Golfers were provided with certificates during a short graduation ceremony. These were followed by prize distribution that encouraged beginners.
Playing lessons with PGTA coach Sundeep and senior professionals like Raghav Wahi certainly helped young golfers in learning the skills. It is believed that the next camp scheduled for summers will also host more young golfers who will be given on-course lessons about Golfing under varying conditions, reading greens, greenside and fairway bunker play, all aspects of the short game, and most importantly head to head competitions.
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