HYDERABAD: Abhishek is a fan of Tiger Woods. He has heard and read about Woods’exploits as a leading golfer of the world.
``He is one of the top golfers.
He is a treat to watch,’’ says the 13-year-old Chirec PublicSchool student, who was attracted by the recent performances of the Indian golfers like Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa. So is Tanesha, a 12-year-old- girl golfer.
Abhishek and Tanesha were among the 100 participants in a tournament conducted by the Andhra Pradesh Amateur Golf tournament in association Boulder Hill Golf Club at the Boulder Hill Golf Course, Gachibowli.
Golf is fast catching on in the country. The State association is aiming to tap the young talent by organizing these types of tournaments.
“We want to encourage youngsters to take up the sport and cultivate an interest in the sport. Seniors take the game mostly for leisure.
We can develop juniors to take the sport to a new level and standard,” says G J Dawson, organising secretary, AP Golf Association.
Abhishek enjoyed his outing at the golf course. ``It’s actually great, it’s a mind game and one’s own game, very individual,’’ he said.
Abhishek has been playing for almost two years and has participated in a number of tournaments. ``Not a good one today so far. I spoiled one hole earlier. This is the first time I am playing from yellow tees as I usually tee off from the blue ones,” Abhishek adds.
``Earlier, one or two holes were a bit tricky but now I ‘m able to tackle them,’’ says Tanesha who had also participated in the south-zone junior tourney here. “It’s better than last time,” smiles Tanesha. Tanesha trains regularly and has been playing for a year now. “My father plays golf, he encouraged me to take to this sport.” The eighth standard girl is targeting the Nationals, ``I would like to play golf at the national level.’’ Dawson believes that golf is heading in the right direction.“Conducting the tournament is to popularize the game in the State and develop players for the State team. We’ll be organizing summer camps at this venue sometime in April,” he added.
“Promoting the game is part of our philosophy,” says John Volz, Manager of Golf, Boulder Hill. “The Club plans to host more major events in the future as things settle down, he said, while reminding that this course is a perfect location for highprofile events. ``The major attraction here besides the greens are the boulders which not only add splendor to the course but also pose a challenge to the golfers,’’ he points out.
Sanjay Pan, manager (Marketing) of Boulder Hill Golf Course, tells about the huge spread of 230 acres.
“The course has five sets of tees and one of them is located on top of a boulder giving a grand overview of the whole periphery, a penncross A-4 bent grass greens and the Bermuda grass fairways besides water bodies.’’
