By Rahul Banerji
Two former regulars of the Indian professional golf tour passed away over the last few days, Kanpur’s Shiv Prakash and Yusuf Ali of Kolkata.
Shiv Prakash was 60 and Ali 48.
While Shiv Prakash played most of his golf in what was then the PGA of India Tour, Yusuf Ali’s final season was in 2011 under the Professional Golf Tour of India banner.
Long over shadowed by Lucknow’s prolific Vijay Kumar, Shiv Prakash won 18 titles in all between 1991 and 2002, while Ali had two career wins till 2011, his last year in the professional tour.
“Shiv’s swing stands out in my memory for being a classic example of keeping your right elbow tucked near the right hip throughout the backswing and upto impact,” wrote Rishi Narain, golf entrepreneur, and editor of India Golf Weekly.
Compact action
“His short, simple, compact action repeated with machine gun precision and held up under pressure – a useful tip for any golfer to follow.
“His victories spanned Kanpur, Delhi, Chandigarh, Meerut, Bangalore, Chennai, Gurgaon, Mumbai, Mhow, Faridabad, and Coimbatore. When he wasn’t winning , he was consistently in the top 10.”
“Shiv Prakash was soft spoken and of gentle nature, with a massive appetite for Tour victories,” added coach Romit Bose on Instagram.
Bred at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, once a key nursery of Indian golf, Yusuf Ali’s career wins were at the Hindu Open in Chennai in 2001 and the Air Canada Forest Hill Golf Open in Chandigarh.
In the latter event, he out-duelled the formidable Vijay Kumar in a play-off.
Five weeks earlier, Ali had gone down to Vijay Kumar in the final round of the Hero Honda Open West at the Poona Golf Club.
Ali passed away in Hyderabad where he had settled after his playing days.
The golf fraternity in Kolkata and Hyderabad including the likes of Vikram Singh and Jaideep Chitlanga from his home town and Bhaskar and Daya Reddy of the Hyderabad Golf Association helped by raising funds for his treatment.
Shiv Prakash too had been ailing in his home town of Kanpur for close to a year before breathing his last.
Shiv Prakash’s wins
Kanpur Wills Open — Defence Services G.C, Kanpur, Nov. 21-24 1991.
Army Golf Course Open – Dec. 05-08, 1991.
Chandigarh Classic – Chandigarh G.C, Feb. 27- Mar.1, 1992
Meerut Open – Army Golf Club Meerut, Oct.13-16 1994,
Fortune, KGA – Sept. 31- 3 Oct. 1995
Classic South, Madras – Sept 19-22 1996.
Classic North, Chandigarh – Oct 17-20 1996.
Classic Masters — Feb 19-22 1997
DCM-SRF Open — Delhi Apr 22-25 1998
Wills South — KGA, Sept 2-5 1998
Mc Dowell Open — Bangalore G.C., Sept. 24-27 1998
Compton Matchplay — BPGC, Feb 3-7 1999
Eicher Central India — Mhow, Mar.23-26 2000
J Hampstead Open — DLF, Apr. 18-21 2000
Aravalli Open — Oct.12-15 2000, Aravali G.C
Wills North — Lucknow, Nov. 9-12, 2000
Cotton City Open — Coimbatore, Aug. 16-19
SRF All India Matchplay — DGC, April 2-6, 2002
Yusuf Ali’s wins
The Hindu Open — Chennai, Aug. 8-11, 2001
Air Canada Forest Hill Golf Open — Chandigarh, Feb. 13-16, 2004
Also read: Indian golf loses a Titan as Covid claims Siddharth Shriram
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