Poona Golf... Army Style

Golf has been a part of the history of Pune. With the Poona club being one of the oldest courses in the city along with the 3 other army courses, the EME course, NDA Course and RSI Southern Star golf course.  In fact a tournament is organized between these four courses, and is played to this day. This is one of the oldest tournament shields being played in the country. The third stop on my visit takes me to the RSI Southern Star Army golf course, one of the four in the said tournament shield.

This course was created a number of years ago during the British raj and was used only by the military stationed in the area. To this day it remains so, with only military personnel (ex service or existing officers) being allowed to use the club. However, this course does have an understanding with the members of the Pune club where a reciprocal arrangement has been created, but they are the only civilians who are allowed to the use the club.

Being a small course, some holes double back on each other

The RSI golf course is located in the cantonment area of the army and close to the residents quarters for the officers and ex service men. The course is also short in length and of a compact design. Due to the short length one is able to finish a round in a short period of time, which makes it very popular as they can easily schedule their time around golf because it takes much less time to play. The course features American blue grass on the greens and tees. This golf course has a limited number of golfers who use it, much smaller than the Poona club etc, thus maintenance of the course is very expensive. The course thus follows only basic maintenance practices and ensures the fairways have good lies, with the greens and the tees being protected.

Some of the holes on the golf course are very unique. One hole runs right next to a railway station, with numerous locomotives passing by, which is sight one does not get to see very often on a golf course. The area on which the course is constructed is an environmental park and as a result there are a variety of trees and animals that inhabit the course. This land also contributes as a major lung for the city of pune.

A view of the finishing hole of the course

Unfortunately golf is a very restricted sport in the army that is generally played by officers and some junior officers. However in recent times there has been a shift in the mind set, especially with the armies mission Olympics and golf being named as an Olympic sport. One hopes that more young talent will be nurtured and encouraged to play the game.  Currently more than 50% of all the golf courses in india are controlled by the army. this can potentially be a huge resource if more personson are allowed to use these facilities. unfortunately like the pune course, entry to the army area is restricted for civilians thus the will and the interest to encourage the game must some from within the army. This depends on the commandant and the golf secretary, and since postings are only for three years in one area continuity of policies is questionable.

As interest in golf grows the army will become more willing to let individuals learn the game and golf becoming an Olympic sport is a huge support for this idea. In the few years since, there has been an increase in participation in inter service tournaments, and even some commands have begun to organize inter battalion and regiment golf tournaments. This is extremely encouraging especially with the amount of resource the army has.