IGU managing committee members with amateurs Mannat Brar and Zara Anand at a recent felicitation.
By Rahul Banerji
With its election due on December 15, the Indian Golf Union has said it was keen to host Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation events to create greater exposure for its players over the next two years.
Towards this, the association said it had received support from international bodies like the International Golf Federation (IGF), R&A and the APGC besides receiving full voting membership of the Indian Olympic Association.
“We have asked the APGC to give us events to host and will keep pressing them,” IGU president Brijinder Singh was quoted as saying.
“Our pitch at recent international events like the Asian Amateur Championship received favourable support to host Asia-Pacific events in the next year or two. That would mean our golfers will be able to play top competitions at home and reap benefits of home advantage.”
The IGU is also the custodian of the Indian Open, a $2 million event on the DP World (European) Tour.
“We have had strong fields in the last couple of years and have already begun preparing for 2025 and been in touch with many top stars,” said Singh. “The response from sponsors like Hero (MotoCorp) has also been very good.
Wider net
“We are working with the Tourism Ministry of Assam and taking events to the North East and will have a promotional tournament in Jorhat. Basically we are using the sport to promote tourism for the first time in India.
“Also, with focus on taking the sport to more people one of our other big successes, which has been well appreciated is taking golf to schools in a pilot project.
“Our National Development Manager has reached out to schools and sensitised 10,000 students and about 2500 of them have got a feel of the game,” said Singh.
That, plus the revamping of the National Golf Academy of India and India’s inclusion into the Confederation of Professional Golf has mark significant advancements in professional training and recognition.
“Good relationships with international bodies and other national federations have yielded great results. The past couple of years have been spent in strengthening that.
“We have received requests to not only send players and teams for competitions but also referees and officials to conduct events. That experience adds to the quality of events here.
“Also, the Tournament Administrators and Referees Seminar (TARS) will be held in India for the first time ever. It is a rare privilege and it will be held sometime in April 2025,” he added.
Notable success
“In addition, we have a structure to send teams for top global and Asian competitions. The success of Avani Prashanth, Kartik Singh, Nishna Patel and others at the amateur level has meant more competition.”
The IGU said it had been “working closely” with the sports ministry and Sports Authority of India hoping to send Indian golfers to a number of events in 2025.
Meanwhile, IGU election returning officer O.P. Garg, former justice of the Allahabad High Court suspended five state bodies from upcoming election for non-completion of required documentation.
Himachal Pradesh ProAm Golf Association, Arunachal Pradesh GA, Madhya Prant GA, Nagaland GA and Sikkim GA had their memberships suspended after no response was received to requests for clarifications, justice Garg said in a statement.
The IGU election schedule: Filing of nominations, December 1 to 4, Scrutiny December 6, poll and results December 15.
Also read: IGU felicitates Mannat, Zara for R&A Girls Amateur performances
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