Kolkata Juniors going Great Guns Protouch Junior Programme Summer Maintenance Practices Get your Geometry Right Golf Results

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1 ROYAL CALCUTTA GOLF CLUB THE Royal Times July 2014 Kolkata Juniors going Great Guns Protouch Junior Programme Summer Maintenance Practices Get your Geometry Right Golf Results Kolkata juniors going great guns Indrajit Bhalotia is a golfer with a special T. He has a perfect tee off, of course. More importantly, he teaches golf. He is on a mission to capture India s young talent and to ensure that Indian golfers of tomorrow are at par with international standards. He talks to the Royal Times about his vision and mission. Tell us something about your philosophy behind wanting to impart golf training, particularly in India where there is hidden talent, lack of opportunities and finances to train in this sport. Golf training is just not learning to hit the golf ball but also managing oneself on and off the golf course. It involves time management, fitness, strength, stamina, flexibility and mental toughness. This is why the RCGC Protouch Golf Academy is one of the very few golf academies, which covers not only golf training but also mental toughness, sports psychology, yoga, fitness and such others. We also have a counselor coming in to counsel parents and children enrolled in the junior programme. How would you describe the talent pool in West Bengal? Considering that we have only two full fledged golf courses in Kolkata (Fort William is an Army course and CLGC is a mini course so they cannot be counted), we have had four of the top 10 juniors in the country last year from the city. NCR has about 24 golf courses and probably 20-times more juniors, speaks for itself. We have about 500 juniors playing in Kolkata and have come a long way when the RCGC junior programme had only eight children and the city had about 20 kids. How does it compare with the national level? The top 10 juniors from Kolkata would be able to match and better probably the top 10 juniors of any other city. What special programmes do you have to tap and nurture this talent? The RCGC Programme is a complete one with five levels starting from absolute beginners to elite juniors who compete with the best in the world. Two of our juniors finished in the top 25 in the World Juniors in San Diego. Only three juniors went from India. That both the Indians from our academy finished in the top 25 speaks volumes about the quality of our programme. We conduct talent hunts, provide free trial coaching for beginners, conduct special coaching camps, conduct monthly competitions on course and special competitions for beginners.

2 Continued from Pg1 How does the future look for these youngsters? The future of the youngsters is bright as the training facilities at the RCGC are of international standard and the support given by the club for junior golf is unparalleled. What are the new plans that you have in mind? We are constantly upgrading the junior programme and are utilizing the off peak hours. Our coaches are constantly being upgraded and we have brought in coaches from outside the city to add better quality to the teaching staff. Our capacity for the junior programme is now 400 students that can easily be conducted without inconveniencing members or using any slots used by the members. What role is the RCGC playing in your scheme of things? Without the support of the club, the junior programme cannot exist. The club has extended the driving range facilities at subsidized charges. Juniors are allowed to play at subsidized charges. The role of the club is the key to the success of any junior programme. We have been lucky to have a committee, which is proactive and supportive of the junior programme. How does a junior start golf? The junior programme is a subsidized one where equipment is provided free. Hence youngsters between the ages of three and 18 need not invest in equipment. The programme fees start at Rs 1,300, which makes if probably one of he most affordable sports. Juniors just need to call up on to enroll and can start off any day between Tuesday and Sunday. Classes are conducted entire day during weekends and holidays and 3:30 pm onwards from weekdays. Protouch Junior Programme Calling all young golfers The RCGC Protouch Junior Programme started 10 years back with six juniors. Within one year the junior programme started producing champions like Surya Prakash, Divyanshu Bajaj and Rommel Mazumdar. These juniors started winning national tournaments and since then seven juniors have been India No.1/or have won the All India Juniors and have won various national events. They include such juniors as Viraj Madappa, Manvi Halwasia, Tutul Ali and Karan Taunk. The RCGC Junior Programme has grown to around 150 juniors now with latest technology used like K-Vest, TOMI Putting, Truehandicap.com and such others. The programme now has, other than Indrajit Bhalotia, two B category coaches and a Golf Academy of America certified coach besides eight other local coaches. Regular fitness, yoga, sports psychology, golf rules clinic and such other classes are held under the aegis of the programme. Besides, there are a psychologist and a counselor visiting the centre every month. The Protouch Junior programme is now copied nationwide and has set a benchmark amongst junior golf academies in the country. It has never been so easy to start golf as golf equipment is provided free during classes and the programme is amongst the most affordable junior programmes in India. The unique aspect of this junior programme is that classes are held in such a manner that members are not inconvenienced. The programme is run professionally with a programme manager who is available six days a week. He is a postgraduate in Sports Management from the Naval Tata Centre of Sports Management, Indian Institute of Social Welfare and Business Management. One of the most outstanding achievements of Protouch was Viraj Madappa and Tutul Ali representing India and both finishing in the top 25 in the World Juniors in San Diego. In order to promote junior golf, members' children who have never played golf before can avail of free lessons 3:30 to 4:30 pm and 4:30 to 5:30 pm. Every junior member is entitled to a maximum of four free lessons. The juniors can enrol either by calling or by mailing to golfprotouch@gmail.com

3 Seasonal and Continued Progress at RCGC Tim Denham, Consulting Golf Course Superintendent for Quality Golf International, Asia - Royal Calcutta Golf Club, Kolkata, West Bengal, India As we approach the upcoming monsoon season, it is seasonally appropriate to talk about the management practices and progress at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. With so many projects and seasonal tasks being taken on, I must say we are getting a great many improvements to the course into process and completion. Our first aerification is well behind us and it was largely successful in recovery time allowing us to bring the quality of the putting surfaces back to seasonal quality. Our next aerification is scheduled for June 9th and will include greens, tees, fairways as well as additional vertical mowing of collars, approaches, tees and fairways. All can see the expansion of the fairway widths on numerous holes on the course as well as the lowering of the heights of cut in the rough from 45 mm to 38 mm as a result of the advisement of the greens committee. Currently we are experiencing the hottest days and weeks of the year. And, at the same time we are taking advantage of this dry time to enhance the golf course with several projects that will continue to raise the quality and experience levels for the members of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Drainage is being installed in the fairway on hole 10 and should be completed by the time this article is published. Then, everyone will see drainage being installed in the fairway on hole 14 where we will coordinate installation of the service path in the tree line and the subsequent earthen paths crossing several drainage nullas. We will be completing installation of service paths at holes 14, 17 and 16 to be sure that the paths are well into the tree lines. If we install a service path on hole 9 it will be short, include the use of the already existing path at the maintenance corridor and continue through the trees and to the farthest availability left of the green and the tank on that side. Additionally, if we install a service path on hole 11, it too will traverse the far left side of the hole and into the tree line. Everyone will notice the ongoing tee enlargement and leveling process that includes the completion of the expansion and leveling of the ladies tee at hole number 1 with the ladies tees at holes 5 and 8 also in progress for expansion and leveling. The blue and white tees at 15 should be complete and grassed by the time this article is published with the expansion and straightening of the white tees on hole 8 has begun and, the white tee on hole 13 being sequenced right behind that for expansion and leveling as well. If, in our schedules, we have seasonal time allowances to press on with additional tee improvements, we will include enhancements to the ladies tees at holes 6, 7, 14 and 18 and the blue and white tees at hole 18. Otherwise, these projects will likely get pushed to next spring. We also have a fantastic programme initiated several months ago with our tree management where horticulturalist Mr Arabindra Ghosh is providing consultation and direction on our tree programmes. We are proud to say that we will be undertaking the installation of several hundred trees on the property this year and that programme will continue into the years ahead. The members will also see seasonal improvements to golf course fixtures and amenities with freshly painted tee signs, course directional signage and amenities. We would like to recognize all the appreciation and support that everyone has been conveying toward our efforts to improve the quality and experiences of golfing at Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Summer Maintenance Practices and Expectations Naturally, as in years past we will be modifying our strategies to manage the course into this season with and elevated alertness for disease management and practical applications of fungicides to facilitate better health of the turf grasses course wide, especially the greens. The members may expect to see our practices include a reduction in mowing frequencies on the greens, a possible elevation in the heights of cuts on the greens, frequent top dressings and, occasionally, we may not mow the greens during the wettest periods of prolonged rainfall. These simple practices allow for improved health of the grasses while in periods of low sunlight and prolonged moisture. In recent years we have tuned our programmes to suit these needs and have found that the modifications of these practices with seasonal considerations allow the golf course to be in its best possible condition during the high season where member play and tournament conditioning is in high demand. As we modify our strategies the members can expect the possibility of heights of cuts being raised while the speeds of the greens may also follow to be slower than during the high season. We may also follow the same strategies for the tees and fairways to allow the turf to cope with the heat, humidity and wetness that typically promotes turf grass diseases. Continued drainage installations will be completed through the summer to accommodate additional needs as determined by the Greens Committee and as labour and project schedules allow. While the primary landing areas on holes 10 and 14 have already had drainage installed. The Golf Course Maintenance staff will be adding drainage to the second portion of the fairway on 14, some of the rough on holes 10 and 14 as well as various other smaller areas around the property. We have seen in just three years a substantial reduction in actual closed days and or closed period durations as a result of over four years of drainage project installations around the entire golf course in prioritized manner. Beneficial drainage has been installed at hole 3 in the landing areas and the right rough, hole 5 at the green surrounds, hole 6 in the entire second half of the fairway and right rough, hole 9 at the entry to the fairway crossing from the tees, hole 10 the entire landing area and the beginning half of the fairway, portions of both the right and left rough, hole 11 at the beginning of the fairway and the rough crossing over from the tees, 12 tee areas where the tees were reconstructed, 14 entire landing areas and the second half and portions of the rough pending, 15 fairway and approach to the green. Additional areas are being prioritized routinely through the season and as budget allows.

4 Get your Geometry Right Alignment is a very important aspect to consistently hit your target, whether it is a putt or a drive you have to ensure the mechanism is properly lined up to enjoy success. There are two crucial elements of alignment I want to share with you here: 1. The alignment of the shoulders, hips and feet (SHF) should be parallel to each other, and parallel to the target line. 2. The alignment of the feet and clubface (leading edge) should be parallel to one another and perpendicular (90 degrees) to the target at address. 1. I see incorrect examples of SHF on the range Toe Line every day. If a body is properly aligned at address it will have a tendency to return to that alignment at impact. This means you will improve the opportunity to hit your target. For example, you may have noticed that where your shoulders are pointing at address is usually the same direction the ball starts off in. Where the ball ends up depends on how the clubface angle is (open, closed or square) relative to the clubhead path. But if you are trying to fix a slice the first thing you correct is the SHF and ensure that at setup all is square. How to achieve this? When a person stands straight and faces forward the SHF is automatically parallel. Bending forward from the hips you will still be parallel. The problem comes when we place the right hand on the club. Many players tend to open the shoulders to get the right hand underneath and this straight away disrupts the alignment. I suggest you merely drop your right shoulder a bit to allow the right hand to be properly positioned on the grip and still maintain squareness of shoulders. You can check squareness of SHF by holding a club across the chest to see if those three elements are parallel. If one of these elements is off line, it could be the reason why you re not hitting your target. 2. A perfect swing cannot hit a target if it is not lined up properly. The easiest way I found to ensure perfect alignment at address is to think of a box. The top of the box is the target line and the bottom of the box is the body (SHF) line. I first like to line up the clubface at the targetand then line up my body to the clubface. I want you to consider the concept of three toes straight ahead. The toe of the club, the right foot and the left foot at address are pointing straight ahead. This means you have three parallel lines at right angles to the target. In some cases a golfer has to point the left toe out a bit to facilitate an easier hip turn and that s ok provided the line across the toes remains parallel and square to hips and shoulders. This is an easy way to line your shot up. Think of a box for better alignment and it can make the difference! Get your geometry right for straighter, more accurate shot making. Target Line Lawn Bowling Seasoned Renu Mohta along with Vintage Jeanette Lewis, seeded 4th in the draw, won the Howrah Jacks Pairs Handicap Competition. The all women pairs team shrugged off a stiff challenge from Sanjay Lakhotia and K. B. Rao with an emphatic display of skill n grit to emerge as victors in a keenly contested final. S. V. Pai won the Season Opener Brakenridge Singles Handicap Competition overcoming a spirited challenge from Anchal Malhotra, who has a reputation of being a giant killer, having beaten Pai in their previous three singles matches they faced each other on the trot. This time too she was on a roll with a convincing win over top seed Samit Malhotra in the Semi-Final but could not overcome Pai who used all his experience and played with determination.

5 Golf Results (March to May 2014) Mar-14 Monthly Medal - March 2014 held on Sunday, 9th Mar 2014 (net) Vrajesh Agarwal (76-10=66) On Count Back Runners-up (net) Pradip Bhaumick (82-16=66) On Count Back (gross) Aditya Khaitan (77) On Count Back Runners-up (gross) Jayanta Gohain (77) Senior (up to 70 Yrs) Ashok Singh (43-11=32) On Count Back Runners-up D Bhargava (44-12=32) Senior (over 70 Yrs) V K Chamria (42-12=30) On Count Back Runners-up P R Bagree (42-12=30) Club Gold Medal (scratch) (on 23/3/14) (gross) Imran Ali Mollah (74) Runner-up (gross) Aditya Khaitan (78) On Count Back 8 Qualifiers For Reading Medal (scratch) Imran Ali Mollah, Aditya Khaitan, Jayanta Gohain, Sunny Uthup Ranjit Chaudhri, Udayjit Bhalotia, Lakshman Singh, Sandip Ghosh Bombay Silver Medal (10-18) (net) Vikash Jain (82-15=67) On Count Back Runners-up (net) Rajvir Randhawa (85-18=67) (gross) Sachin Goenka (82) Runners-up(gross) Tejen Banerjee (83) Apr-14 Monthly Medal (13/4/2014) (net) Yash Rustogi (82-15=67) Runner-up (net) R S Chattha (83-15=68) (gross) Rohan Shroff (72) Runner-up (gross) Vedanta Kanoria (73) Senior (upto 70 Yrs) Dr Abhijit Sen (41-8=33) On Count Back Runner-up Ashok Singh (45-12=33) Senior (over 70 Yrs) P R Bagree (46-12=34) On Count Back Runner-up S K Sen (46-12=34) St. Andrews Tankard (0-9) (held On 20/4/2014) (net) Rajiv Bose (79-8=71) Runners-up (net) Vrajesh Agarwal (80-8=72) (gross) Samir Bedi (77) Runners-up (gross) Arindam Nath (78) Barrackpore Medal (10-18) (net) Yash Rustogi (83-15=68) Runners-up (net) Rohan Ghosh (85-14=71) (gross) Pratyush Kedia (85) Runners-up (gross) Nilanjan Sarkar (86) On Count Back May-14 Monthly Medal (11/5/2014) (net) Rajvir Randhawa (83-15=68) Runner-up (net) R S Chattha (84-15=69) (gross) Imran Ali Mollah (74) Runner-up (gross) Aditya Khaitan (76) Senior (upto 70 Yrs) D Bhargava (45-10=35) Runner-up D Mohinta (46-10=36) On Count Back Senior (over 70 Yrs) Pratic Sen (39-12=27) Runner-up Jahar Sarkar (44-12=32) Governor's Cup (18/5/14) s Runners-up Japanese Cup Lansdowne Medal Reading Medal Mazda Trophy 2013 Rajiv Takru & Aditya Khaitan (46 Pts) Gaurav Ghosh & G S Atwal (44 Pts) Harmeet Sahney (4 & 2) Manish Kanoi (at 19th Hole) Imran Ali Mollah (9 & 7) s Harmeet Sahney & H S Bindra(3 & 1) Runners-up Sunny Uthup & Sidarth Rai GOLF PROGRAMME : JULY AND AUGUST 2014 ** July-14 Tuesday, 1st to Thursday, 3rd Monday, 21st to Friday, 25th Tata Steel East Zone Sub-junior Tour Merchants' Cup Golf Competition ** August-14 Friday, 15th Independence Day Cup

6 Letter to the members Every so often we conduct a rules and etiquettes clinic for our members so that the golfing experience continues to improve at RCGC. Caddies are given instruction twice a week in an effort to bring them on par with caddies elsewhere in Asia. You can play a vital role in this process. Please ensure that your caddie is properly dressed in the Medica uniform: which presently includes a blue shirt with red trim, grey trousers and the Medica bib. We have provided shoes that are optional, given the climate. They should be clean shaven, excluding those religious sentiments, and should be free of body odour. If your caddie has not joined Medica at least ensure he is wearing the proper caddie bib. When on the course, please ensure all divots are filled, ball marks on the greens are repaired and bunkers are raked properly. They should keep your golf bag/trolley 10 yards from the greens. At least on the par 3 tee, your caddie should remain with you to either facilitate a change of club, replace a ball or fill the divot. Slow play has been an RCGC issue for a long time. We can alleviate the pressure by firstly remembering there are other golfers on the course who would like to complete their round in a reasonable amount of time. You may have noticed the time boards placed after every 3rd hole on the course that alerts you about your position on the course within the allotted time period. You can greatly speed up play by walking briskly to your ball, or from the green to the next tee. Be ready to play when it is your turn. In recognized professional and amateur events the players are closely monitored and they have been given instructions on pace of play. The player to play first has 50 seconds within which to play their shot; every player thereafter has 40 seconds. While we are not tour players, we still must play without further delay. If there are no groups ahead of you but people waiting behind there is a good chance that your group is slow. Either allow the faster group to play through or do what is necessary to pick up the group s pace. By speeding up our game we all can enjoy our round. This is your club and it belongs to all of you. Be respectful of your fellow member s rights on the course and RCGC will be a happier place. Go f QUIZ Answer to March 2014 Quiz D. Two stroke penalty and the ball is holed. (July 2014) Now this is something you often see on the golf course. Addressing his ball on the teeing ground, Jack has the "first tee jitters." During his pre-shot routine, he waggles the club and accidentally knocks the ball off the tee. The ruling is: a. One stroke penalty and he must re-tee the ball. b. No penalty and he may re-tee the ball. c. No penalty but the waggle is considered a stroke. He must play the ball as it lies. d. Two stroke penalty and the ball must be re-teed. A pinch of Golf You are a golfaholic if... You know there is more to life than golf but you are not interested in finding out what it is! You quit the game forever, twice a month! You buy every new golf gizmo that comes out! You think you are skillful and everybody else is lucky! You miss the ball but still think it was a great swing! The new clubs you just bought cost more than your mortgage and car payment combined! You cannot break a 100 but still think you could give Tiger a few tips! Some call RCGC home Coppersmith Barbet The Coppersmith Barbet, Crimson-breasted Barbet or Coppersmith (Megalaima haemacephala), is a bird with a crimson forehead and throat, which is best known for its metronomic call that has been likened to a coppersmith striking metal with a hammer. It is found in the Indian subcontinent and parts of Southeast Asia. Like other barbets, it chisells out a hole inside a tree to build its nest. It is mainly fruit eating but will sometimes take insects, especially winged termites. Share a Laugh An alien spaceship hovered over a golf course and two aliens watched a solitary golfer in amazement. The golfer duffed his tee shot, shanked his second into the rough, took three to get out of the rough on to the fairway, sliced the next shot into the bushes and then took a putter to get it out on the fairway again. Meanwhile, one alien told the other that he must be playing some sort of weird game and they continued to observe the golfer. The golfer then skulled a shot into a bunker by the green. He then took several shots to get out of the bunker and finally on to the green. He putted several times until he finally got into the hole. At this point, the other alien told his partner, "Wow, now he is in serious trouble!" versusad@gmail.com Aliens