As a eleven year old student, Suresh Kawa loved to visit the Eagleton golf course and watch golfers swing their shots, while he tried to memorise their moves. “I used to go there every weekend to volunteer as a caddy, and earn some extra pocket money at the same time. I could spend hours watching people play golf,” says Suresh.
Now after a decade he has pocketed the dream he saw as a kid. Suresh has been a caddy for nearly eleven years, and has started practicing as an amateur golfer as well.
“For the last one and a half years, I’ve been playing golf, apart from my caddy duties. It’s been a great journey. So many kinds of people come here every day. I get to observe their playing techniques and learn from them as well,” he says. After completing PUC, he didn’t buy college applications, despite tremendous pressure from his parents. “I didn’t want to study further. I wanted to continue being a caddy. My parents forced me to continue studies for a while, but I put down my foot,” he says.
Since he has begun his training as an amateur golfer, Suresh has taken to doing only one round per day, so as to give more time for his practice. “I also help my parents who run a small restaurant, 4 kms away from here. I go to the market in the evenings and help out in the kitchen too,” he explains.
Suresh’s parents like to watch him play golf, but are still not open to the idea of their son choosing golf as a career option. “Well, they haven’t stopped me from doing it yet. They don’t really understand what I’m doing here. So I’m going to take full advantage of the time I have now and do this for as long as I can. Apart from playing golf, being a caddy is my actual passion. I love being a caddy,” says Suresh, who would like to one day caddy for Tiger Woods. “People may say a lot of things about Tiger Woods, but it’s because of Tiger that most of us even know golf. I also like Jim Furyk a lot. I think my swing is exactly like his,” he continues.
But for Suresh, 2013 hasn’t been the kind of year he had hoped it would be. “My girl friend and I broke up at the beginning of the year, and since then this year has been terrible. Because of the break up, my golf has been suffering too. But I’ve made up my mind to put all of it behind me and move on. I’m enjoying my golf and I only want to focus on that,” he says.
Suresh, however, has greater hopes for 2014. “I want to be in the top ten amateur list by next year. And then soon enough, I’ll be a professional golfer. But I don’t think I’ll ever want to stop being a caddy either. Let’s see where this goes,” he says.
Yearfull
As the year 2013 is all set to end, City Express is moving away from the normal year-ender stories. Instead we present some unseen faces, who have been excelling in their respective fields or living life that not many would imagine. In the next one month, we will bring stories of lesser-known people through our series 'Unseen Faces - 2013'.