TOO MANY HOLES

• Low prize money

• Stars charge high appearance fees (up to $5 million)

• Few big sponsors

Tinku Haldar is 10, and doesn’t want to be a software expert. Instead, he wants to be a golfer. “One day I’ll play golf full time and earn lots of money,” he says, practising a shot on the greens at Calcutta’s Tollygunge Club. Like Tiger Woods, he would have once said. Now his idol is a young man called S.S.P. Chowrasia.

Golf, it seems, is booming in India. In February, India hosted three tournaments whose prize money totalled more than $5 million. From the Emaar-MGF Indian Masters and the Johnnie Walker Classic (JWC) sanctioned by the European and Asian Tours to tournaments organised by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) — India is quite clearly the flavour of the season. Each of these events is five times bigger than the biggest golf event ever held in the country (the prize money at tournaments in India had never exceeded $500,000). And some of the top names — Vijay Singh, Colin Montgomerie, Adam Scott, Ernie Els, Arjun Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh and Gaurav Ghei are part of the high-voltage tournaments being held in India.

Satish Aparajit, secretary general of the Indian Golf Union, the central administrative body for the promotion and management of golf, stresses another pointer to the burgeoning interest in the game. “Till recently, we used to have around eight amateur tournaments for seniors and six for juniors. But today we have 14 and 12, respectively. Three or four years ago, hardly 40-50 juniors played in our junior tournaments. We are now forced to hold pre-qualifying tournaments to clear the rush. This is unprecedented.”

And according to one estimate, sponsors will spend close to Rs 100 crore on golfing events in India in 2008, with over 75 per cent earmarked for four major events — Emaar-MGF Indian Masters and SAIL Open (held in February), JWC (on till March 2) and the Hero Honda Open from October 9-12.

One hitch, though. India is still not quite on the radar of the biggest International golfers. Even India’s big golf boys are not often visible in the country. Jeev Milkha Singh and Arjun Atwal rarely play in India. “Try and get Atwal to play here in August or October — you won’t get him,” exclaims the president of a leading golf club. Others such as Jyoti Randhawa and Ghei feature only in tournaments sanctioned by the Asian Tour. Chowrasia, who picked up Rs 1.6 crore at the recent Emaar-MGF Indian Masters may follow suit if he starts doing well in tournaments abroad.

The exuberance about golf has also to be tempered by cold statistics. India has a mere 80 golf courses, not counting the 100-odd run by the Army, according to Aparajit. China, which didn’t have a single golf course in 1984, has some 240 golf courses. Says golf course designer Ranjit Nanda, real estate developers were able to convince the local government about the importance of golf for the development of business in and around Shanghai.

Clearly, more than India arriving as a destination for golf, it is the rise of Indian players on international circuits that has led to a growing interest in India. “We have to consider a number of factors when deciding to sanction new events in new territories. The success and the support of the leading Indian players on the European Tour was one of the positive factors that contributed to this decision (to come to India),” says Keith Waters, The European Tour’s director of international policy. Ghei echoes the point: “Our success worldwide has contributed not only to the development of golf in the country but also other circuits’ interest in coming to India.”

“The golfing scenario has improved,” says the golf club president. “But the volume of business is not enough to justify millions of dollars being spent on golf. And the total money spent in India is still peanuts.”

The point is well taken. An international golf player has to be paid air fare, hotel costs, prize money and what’s called an appearance fee. Tiger Woods, for example, charges a $2 million appearance fee in the US. In Asia, he charges $5 million.

It’s a chicken and egg situation in golf — no big stars has meant no big advertisers (the prize money for professional tournaments held by PGTI has, however, gone up modestly in the last two years). “Sponsors will flock only when there are big stars. The moment the TV cameras vanish from the golf courses, so do the sponsors,” says Rishi Narain, a former tour professional and an Asian Games gold medallist.

The bottom line is that our superstars, Jeev, Jyoti, Gaurav and Chowrasia and others, bring in the crowds. Sponsors demand respect and mileage when they pour money into our events, and that’s precisely what they get here,” protests Ajai Gupta, tour commissioner, PGTI.

Television sports channels also agree that audience interest in India goes up when stars feature in a game. “We definitely see a spike in the viewership of golfing events then,” says a spokesperson for ESPN STAR.

Experts don’t blame the aces for being busy elsewhere. “It is only by playing in the European and Asian Tour events that our players have the chance to improve their rankings, and hence they play there,” says Prakash Bhandari, president, Delhi Golf Society.

Still, Randhawa doesn’t think the presence of top golfers in India will raise golfing levels. “The fact is you have to pay an appearance fee to almost all the top players who play on the US PGA Tour if they are playing abroad,” he says. “You pay $5 million to Tiger Woods and he will come and play here. But what purpose will it serve,” asks Randhawa. A Chowrasia win, he argues, will give golf better mileage in India.

Randhawa says that he and Ghei, though busy with their commitments in Asia and elsewhere, are making “a conscious effort” to participate in a few tournaments in India every year. Randhawa was at the SAIL Open at Noida from February 20-23.

But nobody doubts the potential of the India market. “The JWC coming to India represents true validation that India is a serious player in the regional and global market of hosting major professional events,” says Robbie Henchman, senior vice president and director of golf, IMG Asia Pacific, the international event managing company.

There will be a time, no doubt, when the top golfers will flock to India. But it is not going to be this year or in the next few years.