Coimbatore's Catalyst

Coimbatore has always been a popular business city. It has been the center of the textile industry in South India and after Chennai, is one of the biggest cities of Tamil Nadu. Interestingly this city never had a golf course until only recently. The Coimbatore club was only developed in the late 1980’s but was some distance from the city. There was no other choice for golfers. If they needed to play another course the nearest one was 2 hours away in Ooty. Now there will be some variety, as an international standard golf course is being created in the city and it hopes to raise the standard of golf in the city and revitalize the game in the state of Tamil Nadu.

A View of the Golf Course

Welcome to the world of the Kovai Hills Golf and Country Club. This super luxury development is slated to be one of the largest in South India and the first of its kind for any Tier 2 city. The project is spread over 1000 acres and will include an international school, super specialty hospital, multiplex and shopping mall, luxury villas and apartments, a tennis academy and one of the largest club houses in the South. And of course… the international standard 18 hole golf course.  

 The golf course will feature pas palim through the green. This is a very demanding course, which requires an accurate driver off the tee along with solid approach shots to score well. The course is also very windy which adds to the challenge and the well placed bunkers ensure any wayward shots will not be forgiven. The backdrop of the course is truly spectacular with the name sake ‘Kovai Hills’ watching over the golfer through his round. The pas palim grass adds a beautiful color to the course and makes it challenging to putt as it can hide some of the subtle breaks on the green.  The course also features a unique 9 hole executive golf course that is attached to the driving range. The golf course plans to use this to use this in its coaching program, as the par three course is more effective to train on. The course plans to leverage this and become one of the best coaching facilities in the south.

This is the second development of this nature that I have seen after the Boulder Hills Golf course. It is evident that for now the golf industry appears to be heading in the direction of luxury developments because it is expensive to have a stand alone golf facility. This development is the first of its kind in a tier two city like Coimbatore. Can a large scale development like this be successful? And is there a demand for such a golfing lifestyle? Only time will tell…

Some Stunning Visuals As One Plays Golf

In recent times the number of these luxury developments have been increasing and it is about time that the state of Tamil Nadu had a premier golfing destination. Most of the activity has been restricted to the North, with some golf courses in the south now making news with the quality of their golf course. Cities like Bangalore have always been the best known golfing destinations in the South. It is important that this has spread to other cities in different states. The Kovai Hills golf course hopes to establish itself as a premier training center and golf course and I think this could be a big boon for that cit city and state. I believe it would build interest in the city of Coimbatore, and put it on the golfing map. Coimbatore needed a catalyst to take it into the 21^st century, and why not through golf…?

Golfing at Coimbatore

Coimbatore is one of India’s largest centers for cotton manufacturing and has been this way for years. The relatively cool climate at the Nilgiris foothills provides a welcome change from the humidity of Chennai. Being one of the business centers of the country and especially so during the British raj, it is interesting that there was no golf course developed here until the late 1980s.

The pride and joy of the golf ourse... its greens

The Coimbatore Golf Club history is unique; in fact it could well be the oldest private club in South India. The golf course was created by a few enterprising local gentlemen who decided that the city would benefit from a good golf course closer to Coimbatore, rather than having to travel up to Coonoor or Ooty. They believed it would improve tourism in the area, especially as this was inherently a business town and golf is regarded as a business and recreational sport.

The Coimbatore golf club is spread over 90 acres; unfortunately it is almost 20km from the city which makes access to the property difficult. The course is very well laid out with rolling fairways that are lined with trees (there are some trees in the middle of the fairway that can be tiresome for the golfer!). The greens are the pride and joy of the course and feature bent grass and are some of the quickest in the South. The hidden breaks on the greens make this course more challenging. The fairways on the other hand feature a mix of a local grass. They have limited maintenance due to cost pressures, but for the most part they are mowed and relatively playable. There are not too many hazards on this course and the fairways are open, so getting to the green is no problem; the real challenge is putting the ball in the cup!

The trees are a very familiar sight on the course

Over the years the course has been through tough times. Unfortunately the distance from the city has not worked in its favor. Not many members visit the course during weekdays. The green fees are pretty steep for affiliated members, so guest visits as well have begun to slow down.  This course has a history and reputation with the people of Coimbatore but now it needs major rejuvenation. It is one of the most beautiful with peacocks and peahens roaming the fairways. It even hosts one of the most unique tournaments, the Coimbatore Open, where the winner is given a grey jacket, in similar fashion as the masters.

The course now is facing competition from a new development project, the Kovai Hills Golf Course which is being developed much closer to the city. The club needs to reinvent itself to combat this new difficulty. In the future I hope this club will innovate to attract more golfers locally and out of state, perhaps even lowering the green fees. The course already has a place in the hearts of the people and this can be leveraged.

The next few years for this course are crucial, there is still time to rebuild its image and become the most beautiful course in Coimbatore. It would be a shame for the course, with its illustrious past, to fade away; though it will never die… it will be shadow of what it once was…