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| Arnold Palmer (centre) flanked by Gaurav Ghosh (left) and Arjun Atwal at Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge in Orlando |
It was the experience of a lifetime! In December, I went to visit good friend and pro golfer Arjun Atwal at his home in Orlando. The annual Bay Hill Shootout at Arnold Palmer’s Bay Hill Club & Lodge was on and so Arjun organised an invitation for me to play on December 31.
The format had one pro and four amateurs and some of the PGA tour players, apart from Calcutta boy Arjun, Daniel Chopra, Dicky Pride, Lee Janzen, J.B. Holmes, Greg Owen and Robert Damron.
Frankly speaking, I was jet-lagged after a 25-hour flight. But here I was in beautiful Orlando in picturesque Florida during the best holiday season of the year, so riding over the heavy tides of sleep waves, I packed my golf clubs bags and off we went for the game at 9am.
We were on the ninth hole by around 11am when Arnold Palmer, the King himself, stopped to watch us play. Arjun introduced me to him saying, “Mr Palmer, this is my friend from India,” and then we clicked some photographs together.
Everyone calls him ‘Mr Palmer’ out of respect. He owns the lovely club and lodge. He’s 84 and is very humble and was very touched that people had come from so far to play on his course. He was especially happy to see Arjun, who is also an Isleworth (Golf & Country Club) member.
As we went back to our game, Arnold stood watching, and just then, I made a birdie! Imagine making a birdie in front of The Arnold Palmer! He is what golf is all about!
But that’s not all, we went to the next hole, where he followed along in his cart, and there I made another birdie! “You’re kidding me, you flew 25 hours and then play this kind of golf?!” laughed Palmer.
The whole experience was just fantastic. I am sure many people have met Palmer but to make two birdies in front of him, in Bay Hill, on what is considered to be one of the tougher golf courses… it was wonderful. My friends called it “inspirational golf” because that’s what happens after meeting a legend like Palmer!
