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Tapping young talent
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About 30 children had the fortune of learning the nuances of golf from none other than Vijay Divecha recently
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THE TAN points to several hours spent in the sun. Measured sentences and the careful choice of words emanate from experience as much as from an innate wisdom. The years have mellowed him to a fine vintage and it should have been a boon for the nearly 30 children who gathered at the Hyderabad Golf Club last week to learn the finer points of golf from none other than Vijay Divecha.
To have the coach of the Indian National Golf Academy teach you the rudiments of the game was indeed a privilege for the children, whose ages ranged from six to 18 years. The Indian Golf Union had entrusted Divecha with the task of developing the sport in the South and his enthusiasm infected the children too. "My son didn't want to break even for lunch," said Dayakar Reddy, a parent and Hyderabad Golf Association member.
The morning session had begun at 6.30 a.m. and well past the closing time of 10.30 a.m., none of the novices seemed to notice the time. The Hyderabad Golf Club and its picturesque location with the historic Golconda Fort for a backdrop should have been an added reason for the zeal. The afternoon session was from 2 p.m. to 6 p.m.
"More kids mean more talent," reasoned Divecha, for whom the aim was to take golf into the schools. The three-day clinic from November 19 to 21 was first in the series of camps divided into two phases; the first to introduce the game to beginners and guide them to a regular programme and the second to put the fundamentals into practice on a course.
Such camps were part of a plan to increase regional participation in national junior tournaments, a project very much operational in Delhi and Chandigarh for years.
Since not many prominent players were from the South, the onus was put on the clubs here to run junior programmes and unearth fresh talent. The idea was to expose children to golf in a bid to make them two to three-times-a-week players.
Saam Chinoy, who oversees the scheme for the Hyderabad Golf Association, says efforts are on to make the sport available to children on any holiday or week-day evening and increase interest enough in the youngsters to come back for more.
"These junior golfers are going to be our future champs and the future of the sport," predicts Chinoy.
For a sport that thrives in the outdoors, golf could wean away children from the idiot box. "Apart from tennis, this is perhaps the only sport that American universities offer scholarships for," says Dayakar as an incentive for those wanting to go abroad for higher studies.
A. JOSEPH ANTONY
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