Steeped in history

The focus these days, when it comes to golf, is generally on the professionals and the pots of money available to them at tournaments across the world. But history has a greater affinity for amateur golf. For it all began with playing for fun; money followed much later.

This coming fortnight, even as Indian pros ply their trade on tours as far as the US, Europe, Japan and rest of Asia, Indian amateurs gather in Bangalore and Kolkata to play in two of the world's oldest tournaments.

First, the ladies play in the Navision India All-India Ladies Amateur tournament in Bangalore, and then, the men compete at the Eveready All-India Amateur Championships (Matchplay) at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC), the world's first golf club outside of the British Isles.

The men's amateur event started back in 1892 and holds the distinction of being the world's second oldest event after the British Open, which began in 1860 (the US Open came into being only in 1895, three years after the All-India Amateurs).

In 1999, the All-India Amateur Championships had their 100th edition "" the championship missed out some editions because of the two World Wars; the ladies event, too, was not held in 1918, and then for 10 years between 1940 and 1950.

The upcoming amateur championships, both blue riband events on the Indian Golf Union calendar, will be the 87th for the ladies and 105th for the men.

"The two amateur events have a rich history and are among the oldest events in the world," says Brandon de Souza, one of India's leading pros in the 1980s. "While professional golf is exciting because of the money involved, the real depth can only be measured by how strong the amateur circuit is in any country."

India has a strong history of golf dating back to the 19th century. Sure, it was the British who brought in the game but before the 20th century dawned, there were more than a half a dozen golf clubs in Kolkata, Mumbai, Chennai, Bangalore, Shillong and Srinagar.

Most clubs had local events, but it was in 1892, that the inaugural All-India Amateur championships were held and it was the first national level event in golf. Organised as a strokeplay championship, it was won by J F McNair.

It was in 1899 that the All-India Amateurs changed the format and became a matchplay event, which is how it has stayed since. The ladies amateurs started in 1906 at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club with L Walker winning the event.

For almost half a century right up to the 1950s, the two championships were dominated by the British. The first Indian to make his mark was the legendary I S Malik, who immediately after the World War II finished runner-up on no less than three occasions in 1945, 1947 and 1948.

But before Malik could win his first All-India Amateurs, the honour of becoming the first Indian to win it went to Mohinder Bal, who outplayed D J Payton 8 to 7 in 1949.

A year later, I S Malik became the second Indian champion, and later won it again in 1955. In 1956, in the first-ever all-India final, Malik beat Raj Kumar Pitambar, who himself won the title twice later on.

Interestingly, the All-India Amateurs, for both men and women, continued to be played at the RCGC till 1957. It was only in 1958, that the IGU "" formed in 1955 "" decided to rotate the All-India Amateurs between the RCGC, the Delhi Golf Club and the Bombay Presidency Golf Club in Mumbai.

The first tournament outside the RCGC was at the DGC in 1958 and it saw the birth of a new star in Indian golf, Ashok Malik, son of I S Malik. Ashok won his first title beating, R K Pitamber, the man his father had beaten in 1956. Ashok Malik went on to add four more titles to his kitty in 1960, 1963, 1967 and 1969.

The 1960s and 1970s saw the emergence of two other stars, P G "Billoo" Sethi and Vikramjit Singh. Both won it five times each, just like Ashok Malik.

From around the mid-1950s to the end of 1970s, Indian golf was dominated by the two Maliks, Pitamber (two times), Sethi (five times) and Singh (five times). Between these five, they won as many 20 titles in a period of about 25 years from 1955 and 1979.

In the ladies, the leading golfers over the years have been the Sita Rawley, and more recently, Nonita Lall and Vandana Aggarwal. Last year Shruti Khanna, one of the leading women amateurs, finally won the All- India Ladies Amateurs for the first time.

Next week, she will defend that title in Bangalore. But now the field includes a bunch of youngsters, all capable of upsetting the formbook.

The Chandigarh brigade is led by Irina Brar and Parneeta Grewal, both extremely dangerous on their day and when free from injuries. Then there are Anjali Chopra, Pragya Mishra, Mayali Talwar and Shalini Malik.

The latest group includes teenagers like Neha Majithia, winner of the Sri Lankan Open, Manavi Halsawiya, who lost the final to Khanna last year, and the 12-year-old Vaishavi Sinha.

The men's circuit has a whole lot of potential champions, ranging from Manav Das, who defends his title in Kolkata, to the likes of Keshav Mishra, Simarjeet Singh, Jaskeerat Dullet, and so on.

There is also the Asian Games gold medalist Shiv Kapur, studying and playing in the US, and it is not clear whether he will come for the event. This is one of the championships on which Indian team for various international events, including the Eisenhower Cup, is chosen.

But what's more important is that Indian golf has enough amateur talent ready to take over the professional circuit in a few years time.