Stray thoughts from a now-deserted golf course

By Rahul Banerji

Hello.

I am a golf course. You may call me Noida GC, or NGC as I’m better known.

Like thousands of my sisters across the world, I have been deserted. When I say “deserted”, it does not mean abandoned or ‘dumped’. For a while now, basically, I have been left alone.

Visitors still come by these days. The eagles and other birds that fly far or soar high in the sky say that my friends at Hindan, Wishtown and Jaypee Greens nearby, or Delhi Golf Club, Classic GCC, DLF, Golden Greens on the other side of the river are in the same boat as me.

It is a similar story across the big waters as well, the eagles say. They have heard it from their friends who venture still further.

I hear on the wind and from passing talk that this sudden emptiness in our lives has been caused by something called a Corona virus named Covid-19 which has spread across the world and affected my most regular visitors and best friends, the humans.

They have been affected by this mystery disease in the thousands, and they have been told to stay at home, whatever that means. For many, home is a faraway place and I wonder what they are doing.

A quiet time

For now, the people who visited us courses – who call themselves golfers – have vanished. We get a few old friends who come by to keep an eye on how we are doing, carry out what they call basic maintenance, but it is all very quiet.

I’m not sure if I like it very much.

You see, I have become used to the hundreds of golfers tramping across my fairways, greens, bunkers and roughs every day.

They come by themselves or groups, walk all over me, dig holes in my fairways in the name of hitting a ball, and damage my bushes and trees.

But they seem to have a good time while at it.

I hear a lot of laughter, some strong language as well but mostly, my humans leave happier than they were when they arrived. Not all of them though, especially those that have lost something known as money, or a match.

Hack and chop

So I wait for them to return. But this is also a chance for every golf course to catch some breath, see the grass grow strong again, give the trees and bushes time to recover from the hacking and chopping of our golfers.

Then there is the weight of thousands of feet, many with soles that tear and gouge my grass, They press down on the fairways and greens in particular and my grass sometime struggles to breathe.

To keep going in normal times, I have to deal with machines. Some use blades to cut my grass or the branches of my trees and others have sharp iron spikes to make holes in the fairways and greens to help me breathe.

The humans call it trimming and coring, and say it is for my health.

I have to admit, though, it is not a comfortable feeling. Trees, bushes and grasslands do not like iron.

Fortunately, it is spring, a season of new beginnings, rebirth and rejuvenation. It is the perfect time for me to get some rest, and I promise to be ready and waiting for my golfers.

I am a golf course. You may call me Noida GC, or NGC as I’m better known. For now, I sit and wait for my friends to return.

Also read: NGC greens reopen, and they are a sight to behold