The National
Capital Region (NCR) in recent years has the seen the greatest development of golf
course development than any other part of the country. The main areas in the
NCR are New Delhi, Gurgaon, Noida and Faridabad. In just three out of these
four, (New Delhi, Gurgaon, and Noida), there are over 20 golf courses with a
further 10 in different stages of development.
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| A view of the large greens found at the course |
Gurgaon
alone, boasts three ‘Championship’ 18 hole golf courses and one 9 hole golfing
facility. In this city it is expected that another two 18 hole courses will be
added and some of the existing 18 hole facilities will develop smaller 9 hole
golf course attached to the property. What could be spurring this frenetic
development in this region? Green fees at these clubs are upward of 2000 rupees
a round and the golfing population is not very large…
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| The Characteristic tight and rolling fairways |
The
first course I visited here was the Classic Golf Resort. It is located 30 km
from the center of Gurgaon and is developed by the ITC group. It is also the first
golf course created by Nicklaus Design group. The contrast in style to the
Kalahaar Blues and Greens in Ahmedabad was stark. The fairways are wider on
this course and there are fewer water hazards. However the greens remain very
treacherous as they are narrow and have multiple breaks. The course features 27
holes and is spread over a sprawling 300 acres. The hotel is under construction
and is expected to be ready by the last quarter of this year. The only
challenge this golf course faces is the access to the property because the
inner roads, leading off the highway are not in good condition. As with most
places in Gurgaon it is the lifestyle aspiration that seems to be drawing
people to the course and hopefully this will continue and allow the course to
play a pivotal role in the future of Indian golf. The management is waiting for
the hotel to be completed before they actively pursue any marketing activities
for the course. With the kind of investment being currently pumped into the
course, its not hard to imagine this becoming a very popular destination for
golfers across the world.
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| Peacocks are a plenty at the course! |
What is evident in
this city, compared to others in India, is that golf is very clearly being used
to support the creation of a lifestyle and image that many Indian city dwellers
aspire to. The sport itself is secondary. Golf is viewed as an elitist sport
and developers are cashing in on this aspect to sell real estate around the
golf course. Is this positive for the game in India? Or is it filling a social
need? It is known that the NCR region being the political capital has a large
number of affluent and high net worth individuals (HNI), who are driving costs
of real estate and lifestyle including golf. If one of the fall-outs of this
trend is better and even world class golfing facilities it can only benefit the
game in the long run. New talent can emerge and major tournaments from around
the world can come to India, lifting the profile of the sport.
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