Royal, Tolly, Fort William…. Calcutta Riverside Golf Club.

The city’s fourth golf course, and its first executive golfing facility, is coming up inside the Calcutta Riverside Township at Batanagar by the Hooghly on the city’s south-western fringes.

Spread across 28 acres, it will be an executive nine-hole, 1,785-yard golf course. “Executive golf courses, geared towards improving the short game and putting on the greens, are different from regular courses in that they cater to the demand of quality leisure time for the busy executive,” Col K.D. Bagga, who designed the course, tells Metro.

To be completed in 12 months from the time of breaking ground, the Rs 5-crore course should be ready by the winter of 2010. Ringed by golf condominiums and villas and boasting a golf clubhouse, a pro shop, a driving range for amateurs and a viewing pavilion, the course being developed by Riverbank Developers Pvt. Ltd, will also be Calcutta’s first mixed-use project with golf as the key energiser. “Golf will be the driver with a basket of leisure activities for the day-out or weekend crowd as well as the passionate golfer,” says Sumit Dabriwala, the managing director of Riverbank Developers.

“Executive courses have become more relevant since land is scarce in metro cities and time is always at a premium. Such courses can not only help avid golfers stay in touch with the game, but can also encourage new players. In Calcutta, it’s all the more relevant since both Tolly and the Royal are member-driven clubs, accounting for 500-600 active golfers between them,” feels M.M. Singh, the CEO of Royal Calcutta Golf Club.

Another golf course will, adds Singh, create more interest in the game and help initiate more youngsters into the game, “throwing up more S.S.P. Chowrasias in the future”.

The highlight of the city’s fourth golf course will be the water body, both “challenging to play” and an “exciting visual appeal”, points out course designer Bagga. “The course will provide variety in layout and challenging greens with short and long holes, some playing uphill, others across the water body and a few across hazardous bunkers.”

Such facilities can teach the “basics and some nuances” of the game, says Brandon De Souza, the CEO and managing director of Tiger Sports Marketing, the company driving the Indian golf tour. “Besides, golf is a tried and tested stress-buster. You also start great relationships on the golf course,” stresses Brandon.