Chief minister Tarun Gogoi at the golf course in Kaziranga on Tuesday. Picture by UB Photos

Sangsua (Jorhat), Nov. 1: Tarun Gogoi the golfer today picked up a club, strolled on to a new golf course in grey trousers and a striped T-shirt and with a causal swing teed off Assam’s maiden attempt to promote tea tourism through golf.

The sprawling Kaziranga golf course-cum-resort, developed by planter Hemandra Prasad Barooah, stands in the midst of Sangsua tea garden, about 20km off Jorhat.

The venture targets the niche tourism crowd who would love a round of golf in between sorties around the garden.

After a few attempts with the club at the lush course that claims to match international standards, the Assam chief minister chatted about the health benefits of golf in general and the business benefits of the Jorhat venture in particular.

“Playing golf makes a person release stress and helps retain a positive frame of mind. I forget everything while playing this game and feel very relaxed,” said Gogoi, who often plays golf in his free time.

It also helps develop a sporting attitude and keeps one young at heart, he said.

“I have seen and played in many golf courses in the country and abroad and I can say this is one of the best courses in the world located in the middle of a tea garden,” Gogoi said.

The chief minister urged the tea industry captains willing to open their gardens to tea tourism to make arrangements so that visitors can pluck leaves themselves and take them to the factories where the leaves can be processed.

“Giving people the experience of plucking tea will attract tourists in large numbers, who come to Assam for wildlife and eco-tourism,” Gogoi said.

He said paddy fields, which surround several gardens could also become a centre of attraction for tourists visiting Assam.

Several Southeast Asian countries are promoting tourism by arranging visits to paddy fields, he said.

Appreciating Barooah for his enterprise, which has earned him a name in the industry globally, the chief minister said he was an inspiration for the upcoming entrepreneurs of the state.

Gogoi reminisced that his first victory in Lok Sabha elections was against Barooah from Jorhat constituency in 1971.

“I am grateful to the workers of the gardens owned by Barooah as they voted for me that led to my win,” Gogoi said in jest.

“He (Barooah), however, was the first person to congratulate me,” the chief minister added.

Thanking Gogoi for the government’s support to the ambitious project, Barooah announced that his company would provide honorary life-time membership to the chief minister, who became the first member of the golf course.