By Rahul Banerji
The Cochin International Airport Limited perhaps uniquely in India, also owns a golf course situated alongside which is called, not very originally, the CIAL Golf Club.
CIAL and the Naval golf course (NEPTA) situated in the delightfully laid-out and leafy Katari Bagh on Willingdon Island are the only two 18-hole tracks in Kerala.
The state also boasts of two historic golf establishments, the Trivandrum Golf Club and the Cochin (Bolgatty) Golf Club with varying claims to origin and heritage.
On a recent visit to Cochin, I had the pleasure of playing the CIAL course with Sanjay Soni, a retired Navy man now settled in the area who is an old hand at navigating his way around the layout.
Bow to stern – to borrow a sailor’s expression – the par-72 CIAL track is a massive 7,430 yards off the black tees which has been out to use when the venue hosts professional tournaments on the PGTI schedule.
The blue tees are a more manageable 6,746 yards though with buffalo grass, five large water bodies and plenty of rough this is only a relative expression.
Cruise control
For about four hours, I hacked and swore my way around the course on a sweaty morning while Captain Soni was in cool cruise mode, well versed as he is with the layout and its perils.
After a while I stopped counting balls lost to water and marsh, and also stopped counting Sanjay’s pars and birdies but it was an enjoyable slog nevertheless.
A part of the front nine is sited along one approach axis of the airport next door so a stream of jets roaring in to land right overhead were an enjoyable distraction for an aircraft nerd like me, and helped cover up some of my worst shots as well.
Rounding off the morning was a thoroughly pleasurable and picturesque journey back to base camp on the spick and span Kochi Metro from the start point closest to the airport, Aluva, all the way into town.
Most definitely recommended as a birds-eye tour of Ernakulam and Cochin, as the Metro is an elevated ride all the way and has plenty of sights on offer on the 24-odd kilometres I rode on the shiny new train.
Not surprisingly, Capt Soni emerged as the best gross golfer at a tournament held recently to celebrate the centenary of the Cochin Golf Club.
Nine clubs and almost a hundred golfers participated, competing for the large number of prizes on offer with the full list of winners reproduced below.
Winners all
| Longest Drive | Mr Balamurugan | |
| Straight Drive | Dr Asghar Majeed | |
| Closest to Pin hole no 5 | Captain Sudip Gangopadhyay | |
| Closest to Pin hole no 14 | Binesh Sukumaran | |
| Maximum Pars | Captain Sukumaran Pillai | |
| Maximum Birdies | Joseph Joseph | |
| Age 50-59 | Commodore Ajith V Kumar | Captain Nebu Phillip |
| Age 60-69 | Mr Ganeshan | Mr Lingappa |
| Age 70-79 | K. Vijayan | K. Achuthan |
| Age 80 and above | K.S. Pillai | Dr. J.I. Chacko |
| Club: Chandigarh | Dr J.D. Dattan | Dr A. Rajesh |
| Mahanadhi Golf Club, Odisha | S.K. Bhoina | J. Kumar |
| NEPTA | Col Cletus | Captain Jitender Singh |
| CIAL | Jiyash | Lawrence |
| Cochin Golf Club | J.A. Chandy | Ravi Menon |
| Handicap Gold | Joseph Joseph | Dr Jacob Chacko |
| Handicap Silver | S. Lingappa | Cap Jitendra Singh |
| Best Golfer Gross | Captain Sanjay Soni | Ashit Midha |
| Best Golf Club | CIAL | NEPTA |
Also read: Golf in Cochin: The hundred-year-old Bolgatty Golf Club
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