How to make ice tee

Two Indians put on their woollens and hit the greens - sorry, whites - at a snow golf event.

Golf on snow. It sounds a little like ice skating on grass, right? But there is a snow golf event held in the Engadin Valley of St Moritz every year. And there's more. This year's edition of the event saw two golfers from India participating "" a first in the 27-year history of the tournament.

Vikram Madhok and Pratap Singh Gaekwad were the participants in question, and they say the experience was absolutely phenomenal. "It was a unique experience of playing in alien conditions," says Madhok. "It was tough, but great fun." Gaekwad agrees that it was a fabulous experience.

Madhok, who is managing director, Abercombe and Kent, a travel company, has been playing golf for almost 10 years now, while Gaekwad, the president of Baroda Rayon, a manufacturing concern, has been playing for 20 years or thereabouts.

Both golfers were invited in December 2005 by Chivas Regal to play in the Chivas Regal Snow Golf event. Delhi-based Madhok has been a brand advisor-cum-consultant for Chivas for almost two years now.

The event was held over three days and golfers from countries like Malaysia, England, Germany and many others had come to exhibit their skills. With temperatures hovering around zero degree, the first two days were reserved for practice sessions which, Madhok says, were extremely important.

"It was necessary to get acclimatised in those conditions." But how did they manage in conditions that were close to freezing point? "Of course we were heavily clad with warm clothes, and the days were bright and sunny, so that was also a huge help."

The snow golf event was just like a normal golfing event, though it had nine holes as compared to 18 in the other golfing tournaments. While the snow was compacted to make the fairways, the white patches were refrozen to ensure that the ball ran smoothly.

What was more unusual was that instead of woods, players here used irons. "Accuracy is one of the major factors in snow golf and it is less forgiving, so there was very little room for mistakes," says Gaekwad.

Since the distance was not as much as on a "green" golf course, using the irons was mandatory. The ball used was also red in colour. Though both of them didn't make it to the top three, they managed well enough. As Madhok puts it, "I held my own," and Gaekwad says, "I didn't do that badly."

Madhok is a keen golfer and has a handicap of 16-18 while Gaekwad has a handicap of 12. Both feel it was the surroundings that made the event more memorable for them.

Says Gaekwad, "We were taken to nice places after the event and meeting up with different people was also a great experience." They were also taken in a cable car near glaciers, where they had a special drink called "Chivas Tea".

All in all, it was a memorable experience and both of them are looking forward to showing off their skills on snow again, if given a chance. Till then, they'll have to content themselves with teeing off on the greens of Mumbai and Delhi.