On the Tollygunge Club greens. Picture by Pradip Sanyal

Anupriya Ravi knows “precious little” about golf, but can tell the birdies from the bogeys from the smiles on 11-year-old son Rahul’s face or the tears rolling down his cheeks. Rahul, a Class VI student of NAFL School in Bangalore, worships Tiger Woods and knows the importance of loading up his backswing to impart distance on the ball.

Nine-year-old Viraj from Don Bosco Park Circus, idolises Phil Mickelson and can’t wait to pack his irons and run for practice once school gives over.

Golf is getting younger by the day as the heroes grow bigger and closer. The 99 kids putting and swinging in style at the Sunfeast Junior and Sub-junior golf meet on the Tollygunge Club greens seemed to have set their sights on hero-worshipping a certain Tiger Woods, while aiming to do in a few years what Jeev Milkha Singh, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa are doing for Indian golf now.

“As a youngster, the experience of steeling your nerves when you are putting for prestige definitely comes in handy when the putts are for thousands of dollars later in life,” says Brandon D’ Souza, president, Tiger Sports Marketing (TSM), managers of the event.

Attired immaculately in their Titleists and TaylorMades, the little ones are fully focussed on the fairways and completely clued in. “This is my second year in Calcutta and I like the 15th hole, since I can carry it well,” smiles Syed Saqib Ahmed, 12, who has travelled from Bangalore.

“He has been playing for five years and trains under Tarun Sardesai at the KGA (Karnataka Golf Association) course,” announces father Zubaer Ahmed, who takes turns with wife Asma in travelling with Syed on the circuit.

Tarundeep, also 12, has been playing since he was eight. “I train under Jassi Grewal at Chandigarh Golf Course and have been playing the junior tour for two years,” says the Class VII student, a fan of Tiger Woods and Jeev Milkha.

While the children dream of the perfect chip-in eagle, the mothers stress the need to strike the right balance between books and birdies.

“As long as he’s getting the A’s at school, I’m fine, but if the grades drop, I’ll have to rethink priorities. Rahul is dead serious about his golf, but we’ll have to take a call in another two years, when he writes his Class X major,” says Anupriya.

Vidya Madappa is buoyed by the early promise her nine-year-old son Viraj has shown on the golfing greens, but is careful not to push “too hard” and trigger a burnout. “Viraj is obsessed with the sport and we have to give it our best shot. However, these are early days and we have to see how he shapes up and will take it as it comes,” she smiles.

The Indian Golf Union (IGU) believes these tournaments provide the perfect platform for nurturing young golfers. “The junior and sub-junior tour, broken into four age groups, are designed to attract more children to the game and prepare them to play under pressure,” observes Abhishek Ghosh, IGU representative at the tourney.

To make the meet more fun for the parents, Tiger Sports organised a pasta-cooking competition for the mothers and a putting contest for fathers with the children.