3 days Ago By Priya Kothari
Pune: From traditionally being associated as a retirement sport, golf has found favour with many young corporate professionals. The rise of modern golf courses , easy access to them, coaching, and online golfing groups have made the game more inclusive and appealing. Banking tech professional Anant Jasu started playing golf about a month ago.
"The game scores high on patience. It forces one to focus on it. I started playing once a week before work, but plan to start playing twice a week now," he said.
Corporate professionals also viewed the sport as a stress buster and a place to meet like-minded people. Rishi Arora (41), a product manager at an IT company in the city, said that he started playing golf about 15 months ago. "I found that other endurance activities were taking a toll on me.
Some of my friends were already playing the sport, so I decided to give it a try. Golf is about pursuit of perfection, and it gives a sense of accomplishment, too," he said. Golf coaches in the city said that interest in the sport sparked after the pandemic, and a large share of learners and hobbyists are in their late 20s and 40s.
"Earlier, golf used to be expensive, and access to golf clubs was also difficult. Now, there are many premium credit cards that allow learners free golf lessons. This is driving many young, working professionals to golf.
They have realised that golf is not so expensive anymore," said Gurki Shergill, who has been teaching golf for the last 20 years. Beginners typically practise on the driving range for 2-3 months before playing on the nine-hole or eighteen-hole golf course. There are some golf etiquettes that coaches teach beginners before they tee off on the course.
Pratik Nirmale, a golf coach who has been teaching for the last 3-4 years, said that he was invited by many companies to conduct corporate workshops as well. "These were typically introduction to golf workshops. I did about ten workshops over the last two years," he said.
A lot of people also got into golf for networking and became a part of the larger golfing community in the city. Ankit Mishra, a senior partner at a consulting firm in the city, said that the reason interest in golf is growing is because it is a non-contact sport, the facilities are improving, and it is also a good place to make business connections. "I was exposed to golf as a child and started playing golf eight years ago.
I usually play on weekends or weekday evenings after work," he said. The emergence of professional leagues and growing popularity of golf in schools and colleges have attracted a new generation of ‘junior' golf enthusiasts..
