New beginnings

A warm and sunny autumn day greeted the return of India Inc's favourite outing, the BT-Honda Pro-Am, on October 16. The Shivalik hills provided a pretty backdrop to the season's opener.

Often regarded as India's golf nursery, Chandigarh, the City Beautiful, lives and breathes the game. This pleasant city has given India its best swinger, Jeev Milkha Singh, and a host of other talents. Now, it has become one of the stopovers in the BT-Honda Pro-Am's five-leg circuit. Welcome to the exclusive club.

The city's golf-loving community of retired servicemen and bureaucrats, and also politicians and top businessmen, gathered at the charming Chandigarh Golf Club, one of the country's most popular layouts, to tee off in India's oldest Pro-Am tournament. And after an overly long monsoon, the October sun came out to shine brilliantly on the eager amateurs. It was perfect weather for a round of golf, and the CGC layout was, as usual, up to the mark. The response to the event was fantastic - the best ever, by all accounts, for a new venue. A total of 120 players participated. Such was the demand for spots in the field that a few enthusiastic golfers had to be turned away.

Clearly, corporate golf, even away from the metros, is thriving. Among those taking part was track and field legend, Milkha Singh (Jeev's father). The indefatigable Singh, astonishingly fit for a septuagenarian (he is 75 years old), came home to Chandigarh, from the Commonwealth Games in Delhi, to play the BT-Honda Pro-Am. Not surprisingly, Singh played all 18 holes, and can put to shame many players half his age with his stamina and drive.

For most, it was a privilege just to be teeing off in the BT-Honda Pro-Am. For those with a competitive bent of mind (and many movers and shakers, both in government service and in the corporate world, simply hate to lose on the golf course), the sole purpose of participation was to come out on top - and take home the big prizes on offer.

Coming out comfortably on top in the team category was the foursome of Jaspreet Singh Bakshi, C.S.R. Reddy, Jagdeep Singh Cheema and T.L. Verma. The quartet of Mohit Verma, S.P.S. Ghai, Shekhar Kapur and M.S. Pooni had to be content with second place. In the individual titles, T.L Verma led in the 19-24 handicap category, finishing with 38 points. The laurels for wining in the 11-18 handicap category went to M.S. Pooni, with 40 points. In the 0-10 handicap category (and these are the best golfers of the lot), Congress MLA from Nabha (Patiala) Randeep Singh saw off his challengers to claim the first place with 38 points. Each of the top three individual winners got a trophy, a GN travel bag by Honda, a Religare souvenir and a putter set, a Cleveland wedge, and a bottle of Whyte & Mackay scotch whiskey.

Vishal Awasthi (Vice President-Activation, Religare) and Rakesh Sidana, North Zone Head of Honda Siel Cars India Ltd gave away the prizes to the winners and runners-up. Also present was Vipul Hoon, General Manager for Marketing, Business Division, India Today Group.

Honda Siel Cars India, always a loyal patron of the BT-Honda Pro-Am of Champions, was the co-title sponsor, while Religare was the associate sponsor. Cleveland was the prize sponsor and United Spirits the beverage partner.

The next stop for the BT-Honda Pro-Am is Kolkata on November 12. Roll on Tolly.