Junior tee party

APGA Golf Academy wants to train Asian youngsters and turn them into world champions

Every few months, Jyoti Randhawa takes off for Malaysia for a week or two to Johor Baru, the southern most state of Malaysia. Johor is a beautiful place and is enjoying a terrific economic and tourist boom.

With the opening of a second link from Singapore, Singaporeans and other tourists are flocking to the place which boasts of attractions such as recreational parks, jungle trekking and golden beaches. It is also the only Malaysian state that extends from the east coast to the west.

For golfers, Johor has many beautiful golf courses and houses the first and only Asian PGA Golf Academy.

That's where Randhawa and his brother-in-law, Digvijay Singh, and others golfers from all over Asia head every now and then.

These pros stay at the Palm Resort Golf & Country Club in Johor and fine tune their skills with master coach Kel Llwellyn.

The Palm Resort Golf & Country Club has lush greenery, rolling fairways and undulating landscape. Spread across 800 acres of former plantation land, the resort boasts of three layouts: Allamanda, Chempaka and Melati (West), all of them landscaped by Ronald Fream and Hiromasa Inagawa.

The Academy is the brainchild of Kel, who in his own words has been on "one long golfing journey" for almost 50 of his 63 years.

"Years ago, I realized I enjoyed teaching and I have been doing that for years now," says Kel, keeping one eye on the action on a nearby green.

"I still play a little bit of golf and recently shot a two-under in a Celebrity Pro-Am tournament in Australia while playing with Robert Allenby (one of Australia's top pros)."

So, how did the programme come about? "I saw there were so many golfers with a negative attitude and they needed a coach to turn them around, so I wanted a programme to teach these kids," says Kel.

Rick Blackie, the Academy's chief operating officer, says, "Ramlan Haroun of APGA knew of Kel's interests and work. So he invited him to the APGA Tour as director of coaching three years ago. That led to setting up of the academy and now it is in full shape. It has also attracted sponsors like Srixon (an equipment manufacturer) which signed up recently."

The Academy has various kinds of programmes and the costs vary accordingly. "We try to work at the lowest possible costs," says Blackie.

"We aren't looking at profits, but at pushing up the level of golf. Roughly about (S) $ 25,000 a year could take care of four golfers and that would include upto three months of training, staying, equipment and facilities at the Academy," adds Blackie.

Kel's teachings are all based on mental strength and flexibility. "That is something the Asians have more than the Europeans and others," he says.

He discovered the usefulness of yoga in the mid 1980s and been its great advocate since then. It was at his initiative that Sukhdev Singh was inducted into the APGA Academy as yoga director.

Sukhdev, who teached yoga to pros like Randhawa and trained cricketers like Rahul Dravid and Bollywood stars, spends a few weeks at the Academy every year.

One of Kel's earliest students was Daniel Chopra, to whom he took an instant liking. "He was my first Indian ward. And I found him very talented. When I met him I was in my 40s. And to set an example for him, I changed my lifestyle too." Kel also took to physical training and kept himself supremely fit like his trainees.

Speaking of Daniel, he fondly remembers, "He was my first student to win a pro event and I was also the best man at his wedding."

An initiative has begun in Johor with the Academy, but Kel's goal, as also that of Blackie, is to have a spread of such academies in more Asian countries.

"We want to go to China soon, where the government is interested in the sport, and hopefully to countries like Thailand and India where there is so much talent," says Blackie, who is a Class A pro.

He adds: "In Asia, coaches who are not qualified to teach have begun to do so. That can be harmful. Our aim is to ensure there are qualified coaches. We want to coach the coaches who can then coach students in their countries and clubs."

The programme, which Kel and Blackie wish to make popular, is taking the sport from kindergarten to junior. "Kinder golf is a programme for very young children and it is about to take off in Singapore. APGA will be involved in it," says Blackie.

"We want to take these kids to single digit handicaps with the right kind of training," says Kel looking at Blackie. Together with APGA, Kel, Blackie and Ramlan, they want to use the Academy as a vehicle to develop junior golf in Asia.

"I have no doubt that it is Asia that has the most talent. They are mentally stronger and have greater discipline. Give them some years and good coaching and you will have a world champion."