Waiting in the wings

There are others on the Indian pro golf circuit

Long before the Indian golf circuit took a break for Christmas and New Year, many of the pros on the domestic circuit had started making plans for 2004.

No, the plans had nothing to do with New Year celebrations but professional plans for the next season. Year 2C3 was the year of golf "" one during which Indians firmly established themselves as a force to reckon with in Asian golf and had begun making inroads elsewhere, too.

If early indications are anything to go by, Indian golf is likely to reach even greater heights in the coming year.

While the first tier "" Arjun Atwal, Jyoti Randhawa and Jeev Milkha Singh "" have already established themselves as the leading lights in Asia, there is a second set which is trying to make a mark at the Asian PGA level.

And now, a third, a group of golfers is getting ready to make the move from domestic Indian tour to Asian Tour, while a few senior players are trying to come back from what has been a struggle over the last two years.

Enough has been written about Atwal, Randhawa and Jeev, who have hogged most headlines for the past few seasons and not without reason. This season, Amandeep Johl, after getting over his problems of technique and confidence has finally done some justice to that sharp golfing mind of his.

He finished a career-best 14th on the Asian Order of Merit. He also made forays into the European Tour, where he tried and failed to make it past the Qualifying School.

"But the good thing is my game is coming around," says the affable Johl, who lists TV commentating as one of his big hobbies.

Another one to firmly establish his credentials on the Asian scene has been Arjun Singh. He almost gave up playing three years ago as he was laid low with severe back problems.

Medical attention in the US and some fierce determination has seen him make a successful comeback. At home he has won the Indian PGA title back-to-back and in Asia has hovered around the 20th place for the last three seasons. 2004 could be the year when he breaks through.

These two apart, Harmeet Kahlon and Vijay Kumar, both fairly understated, have won once each on Asian tours, but both at home.

This year the campaign was not as good, but it was also the year of feeling around. Kahlon tried his hand in Japan and Europe, but failed to court success, while Vijay faced some self doubts outside home.

The good thing is that the above lot, some others like Mukesh Kumar "" a Tiger on Indian courses "" and Digvijay Singh, as also Feroz Ali played a few events on Asian Tour. They did not find immediate success, but the early taste was good enough for them to want to try harder.

In January, they will lead the Indian challenge at the Asian PGA Qualifying School in Malaysia. The top 40 from the school earn a card to play full-time on the Tour, which now has around 18 events, many of them joint-sanctioned with Europe and one each with Australasia and Japan.

Adding further muscle is the next lot of youngsters, Ashok Kumar, Rahil Gangjee and Rahul Ganapathy, who will all be travelling to the Q-School.

To this lot add senior players like Gaurav Ghei, Amritinder Singh, Uttam Singh Mundy and Vivek Bhandari. All of them know how it is to win at home but what they need is a few good results outside India.

This year, or maybe next, there could be more players making an attempt on Asian Tours.

Newly turned pros like Sandeep Syal and Gurbaaz Mann and others like Naman Dawar have occasionally reared their head with finishes in top 10 in Indian Tour events, but all of them realise they need to achieve greater consistency before aspiring for higher Tours.

All in all with almost 15-20 golfers ready to strike at various levels, Indian professional golf is looking at its best and is only bound to grow further.

Whether that translates into a more lucrative circuit at home is something the coming season will reveal.