Srinagar Swing: Pahalgam, Lidder Valley GC, and a dull thud!

By Rahul Banerji

One of the reasons for this visit to Kashmir was to squeeze in some golf, with the Lidder Valley course in Pahalgam high on the list of priorities.

In no particular order or preference, Kashmir Golf Club and Royal Springs (both in Srinagar), the Gulmarg course and Pahalgam were the four marked out destinations.

And first up was the Lidder Valley GC in Pahalgam.

With Commanding Officer Anjali and her troops off inspecting waterfalls, pilot and guide Nasir and self headed the other way.

Off we went, along the highway to Jammu for a good part before turning away from the southbound route at a nondescript town called Bijbehera.

By then, we had already spent close to a couple of hours making way for a stream of military and para-military convoys, waved to a halt as each one went past.

Be that as it may.

Now Bijbehera and its surrounding villages have a history that is of interest for students of cricket.

It is home to an industry that brings the Kashmir willow bat to the world.

Set up pre-partition when the colonials realised the local tree was an adequate substitute for the willow at home and they did not need to ship bats wall the way from Blighty, it has grown into an industry some say has seen its best days.

Bat heaven

Driving through Sangam, Halamulla and Charsoo, one crosses shops and factories on either side of NH 44, almost every roof laded with shaped blocks of willow drying out before being shaped into their eventual destiny as cricket bats.

But golf was the reason we were here, and we drove on. Even three years ago, I would have stopped here because of the stories to be found, tales to be shared, names to be dropped.

That, however, was then.

Pahalgam and the Lidder Valley Golf Course beckon.

There being no information to the contrary on the websites of JK Tourism and its affiliates other than glowing words about the course, its surrounds, the design, etc, etc, expectations are high as we pull up at the course.

Ominously, the gate is shut. No cars, caddies, no nothing.

Some shouts later, faces pop up and tell us the curse has been closed since November, for Covid reasons.

Thanks you for the dull thud, JK Tourism, Tourism Kashmir and the rest of you.

It’s been a long journey to the Lidder Valley and I’m darned it will end at this gate.

The men though are kind enough to let me wander around and for close to two hours, I trudge under massive conifers, through soggy, overgrown fairways and around untended greens.

Eye-watering beauty

It’s heart-breaking that this course, the match of anything the Alps and other mountain venues around the world have to offer in terms of sheer natural beauty, sits virtually unattended today.

But there is hope.

“If we get the material, 20 days is all that are needed to open up the golf course,” a wizened local says.

“There has been a lot of rain, but with proper sanding and mowing, we can be ready even for competition within a month.

He also challenges me to a match and has already given me strokes (a handicap) for when I return.

So back we go, and having crossed Bat-Town on our way out, we hit Saffron Town.

Such was the focus on the golf that Pampore never really registered.

Pampore is the only saffron-growing area in Kashmir and the “world’s most expensive spice” that comes from these fields are the best that money can buy.

Nasir says in harvest season, November, the fields are a blaze of purple from the crocus that provides the prized stamen but for now its just a flat green expanse.

Every establishment in Pampore links itself to the spice. From Saffron restaurants to Saffron boutiques and what have you, even a Saffron general shop.

We set out seeking a round of golf at an extraordinary venue that fell through.

What we got instead in returning to Srinagar past more of those convoys, was a good bargain. Unexpected stories.

Till next time then.

Also read: Srinagar Swing: Smooth landing, and a bumpy ride into city