BHUBANESWAR 09-Sep-2011 163
From approach road to the fairway, from hazards to greens, from parking area to the pavilion and from soothing cool breeze to heart-warming hospitality, Bhubaneswar Golf Club carries the signature of a cute little home of golf. Located inside Infocity, the premier golf club of the capital city of Orissa with a nine-hole course, is surrounded by country’s leading IT companies on the one side and stretches of forests and hillocks on the other side, giving one of the most picturesque views from the pavilion of the club house. Sitting in the club house, one can, occasionally, see movement of elephants in the nearby Chandaka sanctuary.
The club house sits atop one of the hills with changing rooms, bar-cum-restaurant, conference hall, card room, billiards room and a business lounge. On the occasion of closing function of each and every tournament, the club house assumes a festive look with dance, music, fun and friendship. The design of the 5,900-yard course, featuring hillocks, water bodies, narrow fairways, undulating greens, an elephant bath, a crocodile bath and a 3-par blind signature hole not only make it visually pleasing but challenging as well. While drawing praise for its aesthetic beauty, the BGC course has boosted the tourism potential of the state. Especially, corporate executives from within and outside the country have found BGC an ideal hub for business-promotion through recreation.
Though founded in the year 1983, BGC had to wait for 19 years to set up the home of its own. With a 500-odd membership, including the who’s who of the city, the club has become an ideal place for social and business activities as well. Among the members, around 80, including 12 ladies play golf on regular basis. Among the regular golfers, Ranjit (Raju) Singh, Dalbir Singh and Lakhi Swain have won laurels for the club.
BGC`s conducts around 12 tournaments, including three zonals in a season, which starts in September and ends in March.
Club members also undertake tours to other cities of the country and abroad to play tournaments on occasional basis. IGU certified trainers Suresh Chandra Mohanty and Pramod Behera generally help the members hone their skill. ``Occasionally, we also rope in reputed coaches from Kolkata, Delhi or Mumbai to conduct camps here,`` says BGC golf captain P K (Bhumi) Mohanty.
The club offers as many as six categories of membership. Admission and development fees for membership has been fixed as Rs 2 lakhs for individual, Rs 25,000 for government official, Rs 4.5 lakhs for corporate (up to two persons), Rs 10 lakhs for institution (up to five persons). Outsiders can play at the BGC by paying Rs 100 per session as green fee, Rs 40 toward caddy fee for nine holes and Rs 100 for a golf set. ``This is cheapest price in the world,`` claims Mohanty.
Plans are afoot to convert the course into a full-fledged 18-hole category. ``We also have plans to add other facilities such as driving range, night golfing, lodging, health club, gymnasium, swimming pool and tennis court,`` says BGC secretary Dulal Pany. But the expansion plan is getting delayed mainly because of paucity of land. ``We need around 50 more acres to complete the project. But our repeated request to the state government to provide the land has yielded no result,`` laments the secretary. ``As an alternative, we are trying to arrange the land at another place and develop another nine-hole course there,`` he adds.
Encouraging youngsters (8 to 14 years age group) take to golf has become another major challenge for BGC. ``We are offering them training facility at a throw-away price of Rs 50 per session. But the response has been very disappointing,`` discloses golf captain Mohanty. ``Parents are still under the misconception that golf is an expensive sport and they can`t afford it for their children,`` says the secretary, pointing out the reason.
