Noted golfers, senior politicians and members of the judiciary will exhibit their putting and chipping style on the 18-hole course of Patna Golf Club in a four-day tournament as part of the club's centenary celebrations.
Christened "Legacy of a hundred years", the event will tee-off on Thursday with the inauguration of a state-of-the-art guesthouse.
The gala events lined up, including the tourney, will start on Friday.
"Former chief minister of Jammu and Kashmir Farooq Abdullah, former Union health minister Ghulam Nabi Azad, former Supreme Court judges B.P. Singh, Aftab Alam and Chandramouli Prasad, Supreme Court judge Shiva Kirti Singh and CBI director Anil Sinha will exhibit their golfing skills in the tourney," said Patna Golf Club secretary Manik Vedsen, while addressing a news meet on Wednesday. "Education minister Ashok Choudhary, IAS officer Brajesh Mehrotra and IPS officer Ravindra Kumar are also expected to take part in the event. Shiva Kirti Singh, B.P. Singh and Anil Sinha are club members."
Manik said 350 noted golfers from various states, including Jharkhand, Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, Odisha, Bengal and Rajasthan are expected to take part in the event.
"The golf tourney will be held in various categories - ladies, senior, ordinary player and general golfer. Legend of golf, a special event, will be held on the concluding day on March 20 in which noted people like Ali Sher, an Arjuna award winner and L.N. Singh, the former captain of the Indian golf team, will take part. The event will showcase professional golfers battle it out against those who play the game for fun."
"Earlier, we used to face problems whenever we organised inter-club matches," said Patna Golf Club treasurer S.K. Shahi. "Members of other golf clubs and academies refused to take part in inter-club matches because of the absence of a guesthouse for golfers. Now that we have a guest house, we don't think we should face similar problems anymore."
The guesthouse, a G+1 structure, is equipped with four rooms that have amenities like televisions and refrigerators.
BJP MP Hema Malini had provided Rs 25 lakh from her Member of Parliament Local Area Development Division (MPLAD) fund for the guesthouse. Members of the club had raised another Rs 40 lakh to complete the construction. The ground floor has a kitchen and a shop wherein golfers can keep their golf instruments.
Patna Golf Club's history dates back to the pre-independence era. It was established in 1916 and was initially known as the South Bihar Gymkhana Club.
The then state governor Steuart Bayley had set it up. Initially, East India Company officials used to play golf and polo at the club, which has hosted several national championships since its inception.
One has to provide a lifetime membership fee of Rs 2 lakh to Rs 3 lakh.
The club started a golf academy in 2012 to promote the sport among residents. Interested players can enrol themselves for a three-month course and learn the game from experts at the club.
