They may have started out as caddies and odd-job boys. But now they are successful golfers in their own right.
Traversing the distance of a golf course’s greens, roughs and fairways, a spectator’s line of vision barely registers more than the players at the centre of the action. The inconspicuous presence of their caddies in the background is merely glossed over as they go about their usual business — handing out the required clubs and doling out an occasional word of advice to the golfer. Many of these helpers have playing ambitions of their own, but in the high-profile world of a game fast becoming a byword for corporate networking, it’s easy to understand such dreams being ground into dust. Nevertheless, a few have found a way to rise higher from humble beginnings and made quite a name for themselves. Initially finding a way to play the sport with nothing more than tree branches fashioned into golf clubs and little more than determination for support, these players willed themselves to win major titles on the Indian golf tour and while the struggles haven’t ended, their stories serve as inspiring examples.
Ali Sher, 50, whose first involvement with golf came about during his caddying days at the Delhi Golf Club, is the person credited with beginning India’s successful wave in golf after he became the first home player to win the Indian Open in 1991. “I think now it has become slightly easier for caddies to turn pros, back then it was much tougher. Now it’s a popular game and we have so many good players,” says Sher, interrupting the conversation to tell a pupil how to correct his swing. Still residing in the Capital, he continues to devote a bit of time to the sport, instructing those who come to him for a bit of direction on the course.
Sher’s story has been revisited many times over the past few years. In 2008, the son of greenskeeper at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club — SSP Chowrasia — became the first Indian to win a European Tour event on home soil at the Indian Masters in Delhi. Another caddie-turned-pro, Mukesh Kumar, based in Mhow, has over a 100 professional titles to his name and is now grooming 22-year-old Om Prakash Chouhan to follow in his footsteps. Chauhan’s father tends the greens at the Mhow Golf Course. Last year, Chouhan braved a field including the likes of Jyoti Randhawa and Gaganjeet Bhullar at the DLF Masters and held the first-round lead. 2008 Surya Nepal Masters winner and current PGTI Order of Merit leader, 32-year-old Shamim Khan and Ashok Kumar, 27, who has 11 professional victories to his name, are others who have travelled this road.
Kumar was born in Bihar and forced to move away from his family at a young age due to financial difficulties. He did odd jobs at the Jaipur Polo Club and one day, watching the players milling about at the nearby Air Force Golf Course, decided he wanted to play the game too. But it was a thought that would get him into trouble soon as the rules forbade him from doing so. When he persevered, he was asked to leave his job. He returned to the course a few months later, though, caddying for 1982 Asian Games gold medalist Amit Luthra, who would eventually ensure that he got his chance to play the game.
2009 Indian Open winner C Muniyappa started out earning Rs 1 per hour, caddying at the Karnataka Golf Course. Watching other golfers made him realise that he wanted to take up the game himself. “I couldn’t afford a club so I fashioned one from a branch. My parents supported me and apart from that, all I had was my talent.” Muniyappa, however, feels differently from Ali Sher and says that it is now tougher for caddies to turn pro as the cost to enter a tournament is much more. “More sponsors are definitely needed,” he adds.
The Delhi Golf Club happens to be the home course of Rashid Khan — one of the youngsters in Indian golf who is on the fast track to success. Days and hours were spent improving his game at the same club where his father worked in the pro shop and his uncle caddied. Now, with a string of amatuer titles to his name apart from international honour, Khan is readying for professional golf. Former pro Nonita Lall Qureshi, who has coached Khan and watched him grow during his quick ascent, says it’s the drive to succeed that counts in favour of those not fortunate to have easy access to facilities and finances. “It’s the hunger to do well and better yourself that is the key factor here,” she says.
In recent times, there have been more caddie-turned-pros making it big, but golf still retains its elite tag. However, it’s likely that more fairytale finishes will crop up as the game continues to spread its reach, and inspiration is there in droves for all those who aspire to golf’s greatest heights. n
(Prasoon Kumar is a New Delhi-based freelance writer)
