Golfing Prowess

After Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa, it is the turn of the new Indian kid on the block, Shiv Kapur to shoot fountains of fire out of the eighteen holes. His triumph at the Volvo Masters of Asia and him being crowned the Asian Tour’s Rookie of the Year are ample testimonies of his golfing credentials. The Government of India should promote the game right from the school level, so that it does not remain confined to the moneyed few. In fact, the Indian Olympic Committee should push forward to make the International Olympic Committee include golf as an Olympic discipline from Beijing 2008 itself. Some of the Indian business tycoons and former India cricketers who take to golf only out of fun and as a pastime, but actually end up playing the game quite well, may be persuaded to think of becoming golfing professionals. These go-getting men of mettle just need a catalytic government proposal to promote and sponsor golf as a well-followed game in the country, especially since it has its in-built similarities with the Indian National Game hockey and the unconstitutionalised unofficial Indian national religion called cricket.