Grooming on the greens
Even as elite clubs are holding camps with the 2016 Olympics in mind and the National Golf Academy is grooming school-goers, public courses are the need of the day if golf is to be promoted as a competitive sport, writes Donald Banerjee

There has been too much of tamasha cricket, it is golf time now," screamed five kids in unison as we asked them about the IPL cricket fever at the Chandigarh Golf Association (CGA) Range recently. Going by the turnout at the greens, golf fever seems to have gripped the Tricity as more and more kids are converging on the CGA Range, Chandigarh Golf Club and the Panchkula Golf Club. The most in demand is the CGA Golf Range, which also houses the National Golf Academy of India. Taking personal interest in the young trainees is the academy director and national Grade A coach Jessie Grewal and his team of coaches, Mahesh, Akshay and Saaniya Sharma. 

Let us agree that too much of cricket has resulted in cricket fatigue. Imagine four months of cricket tamasha from the World Cup to the IPL. This has resulted in a downward trend in ads and viewership of the cricket series against the West Indies. Now the kids are making a beeline for golf courses at Chandigarh and Panchkula.

Once considered a game of the affluent, golf is now "reachable," with the clubs making their facilities, including clubs, balls and coaches available to wards of non-members. Names of city golfers who have made it big are household names. Who does not know Jeev Milkha Singh, a two-time Asian Tour champion, who has struck triumphs also on the European and Japan Tour. Harmeet Kahlon and Irina Brar remained amateur national champions for several years. There is a long list of those who have made it big from the Tricity. Kapurthala's Gaganjeet Bhullar is making it big on the Asian Tour.

Another major reason for the shift towards golf is the inclusion of the game as a medal sport in the 2016 Olympic Games. While a number of schools have started basic golf training by opening miniature five-hole courses, the Chandigarh Golf Association (CGA) has opened its facilities to schools of the Tricity. At a meeting with the DPI Schools and principals of 20 government schools, CGA president J.S. Cheema invited the latter to send their students to the CGA Golf Academy. "This initiative will go a long way in tapping talent at a tender age. I am thinking of the Olympics beyond the 2016 games," says Cheema.

The 'Schools to Range' slogan gets under way next month. These camps will be conducted at the basic level. According to chief coach Jessie, it is the year-long camp that brings out the best among the trainees. Jessie can be seen on the greens mornings and evenings. Either he is brushing up the talent of the top golfers, honing the skills of the upcoming players, or giving basic lessons to the learners.

He pauses as I ask him about the mushroom growth of miniature golf courses in the region before replying, "It is good, but these trainees have to ultimately move to the golf courses to learn. For that we need public golf courses."

A special session is on at the driving range when one visits the CGA Range one evening. The 12 trainees are all leaders in their respective categories of the IGU junior golf circuit. Feroz Garewal, who trails Piyush Sangwan by a few points in the B category, appears to be more confident as he brushes up his talent. His parents moved from Ludhiana to Chandigarh so that he could hone his talent. The others in this category Jairaj Sandhu, Yuvraj Sandhu and Gursher Sekhon have also made their mark in the junior golf circuit.`A0

Also getting a dose of the Jessie medicine in Category C are Jaiveer Sandhu, Karandeep Kochar and Jansher Gill, besides twin brothers Aadil Bir Singh and Uday Bir Singh.

Ten-year-old Aadil Bedi, who leads the rankings in Category D, is the youngest trainee among the boys, with Vasundhara Thiara, barely eight, showing enthusiasm at the advance camp.

Jaipreet Ghuman is the 12th trainee at the camp. She has been doing well in the girls' A Category.

The Chandigarh Golf Club, which runs a golf academy under the directorship of Arjuna awardee Harmeet Kahlon, runs golf courses under EGTF trained coach Ajay Gujral. Most of these camps teach the`A0basic fundamentals of the game. Manjeet Kochar of the Indo-Canadian Golf Association also runs week-long or monthly golf camps. He also heads the British School Golf Academy in Chandigarh. Yet another coach gives basic lessons to golfers on the club premises.

The previous president of the club, Birinder Singh Gill, had opened the Golf Academy with the idea of training a squad with an eye on the 2016 Olympic Games. That remains a distant dream. The current president Malwinder Singh is determined to streamline the training process on the lines of other clubs having regular training programmes. "For that, the coaches will have to acquire coaching certificates from the Indian Golf Union," he adds.

The Panchkula Golf Club, which came into being with the promise of becoming a golf nursery, has a long way to go. In the beginning, a number of golf camps were held on the greens with a number of Panchkula schools sending their students for grooming. The coaching continues. But what is needed is a follow-up of the trainees so that talent can be tapped. Raman Kumar and Som Nath are IGU trained coaches of the C and D category, respectively.

National Golf Academy of India director Jessie Grewal feels the Tricity needs more golf courses and at least one public golf course if this game is to be taken up as seriously with an eye on the 2016 Olympic Games. "Schools can have miniature golf courses, where putting and chipping can be taught. But the drive with which you begin the game with a tee off, that facility can only be available at driving ranges", he adds.

"Lado Sarai is the only 18-hole golf course at Qutub in New Delhi that is a public course. The other public course in the Capital is Bhalswa, which is nine holes. At these courses, golf enthusiasts just have to pay and play and hone their skills. Such facilities are not available at other courses, as they are occupied by members all the time", says a senior golfer who agrees with Jessie that such courses are the need of the day to promote the game as a competitive sport.

child’s play

Ten-year-old Aadil Bedi with a cupboard full of trophies at his residence in Chandigarh

He is barely 10, but already on a birdie hunt. A Class V student of Chandigarh's Vivek High School, Aadil Bedi fired four birdies on the back nine for a superb 75 on the last day to win the Northern India Junior Golf Championship at Noida.

This win and the second and third slot finish in the Haryana Junior and the Southern India events, respectively, saw him climb the ladder to occupy the top slot in the D category of the Indian Golf Union (IGU) merit list.

His superb performance came after he and Karan Pratap of Faridabad finished joint leaders on the penultimate day.

He got into the winning groove when he chipped in from 110 yards to save a par on the ninth. He followed this up with birdies on the 10th, 13th, 14th and 16th holes to finish with a 75 card and a victory margin of 11 strokes.

His performances so far have taken the 10-year-old city boy to the top slot of the IGU merit list with 279 points. A good 26 points above second-ranked Harshjeet Singh Sethi, who has so far logged 253 points.

It is a dream come true for Aadil. In`A0his words: "Being number one has been my childhood dream. When I was six, I played with 10-year-old boys. I tried to win at that time but I failed. But I was determined and put in long hours of practice under the watchful eyes of Jessie Grewal. My determination and Jessie's guidance paid off and I started winning".

There has been no looking back for Aadil. He was picked up by Albatross India in their four-member junior team for the True Vision Junior Golf Tournament in Thailand. The team finished second runners-up in a contest featuring 16 Asian teams. This was also Aadil’s fourth international participation after Callaway World Cup in USA and Asia Pacific Junior Golf Tournament last year.

This international exposure saw Aadil being honoured with the Player of Year award by the Chandigarh Golf Club and being awarded the Green Jacket, when  he finished first in merit list of year 2010-11, winning 4 out of 5 matches in the under-10 category.

Happy at Aadil Bedi's achievement, Chandigarh Golf Association general secretary CSR Reddy says: "We are planning to launch the Junior Golf Federation, which will coordinate between junior golfers and corporate houses for funding the travel and lodging expenses incurred by the former to participate in national and international junior golf tournaments. As many private organisations are active in Asia for conducting junior golf tournaments, we are tying up with them for promoting the junior golf programme. We will send the CGA`A0and IGU merit list players for participation in international tournaments at the cost of the Junior Golf Federation." — DB

Power of PILOXING
Fusion workouts are not just a fad but they actually maximise the benefits of two types of exercise and how!
Sachin Kalra

Over the past few years, the focus of fitness enthusiasts has been on fusion, which mixes and matches different exercise styles in one workout to burn calories while having fun.`A0 And this paved the way for fusion fitness, also referred to as hybrid fitness. Fusion takes exercise to an altogether different level, offering an unconventional yet effective workout. It is flexible, challenging, fun and boredom free. The aim of fusion is to challenge your body differently while adding the spice factor to your workouts. It also aims to increase the effectiveness of your workout by targetting a variety of things like core, strength, balance, endurance and agility all at the same time. It combines moves from disciplines like yoga, pilates, boot camp, ballet, cardio, boxing, cycling, swimming and more...

Fitness fusion greatly appeals to people who are not interested in focussing on just one type of exercise, are short on time and are looking for innovative ways to stay fit. Various exercise studios and gyms abroad have different fusion workouts.`A0Some of the better-known fusions are: circuit training, yogilates, power yoga, hydroride, piloxing, etc. Here we take up piloxing.

Piloxing is the brainchild of Swedish dancer and celebrity trainer Viveca Jensen and the culmination of her mission to physically and mentally empower women through fitness. It is a creative mix between pilates and boxing geared towards women. And at the core of piloxing is the principle that feminine is powerful and it strives for women to attain a sleek, sexy and powerful self-image.

Piloxing uniquely blends the power, speed and agility of boxing with the beautiful sculpting and flexibility of pilates. It is a fat torching, muscle sculpting, core-centric interval workout, guaranteed to whip you into shape. In addition to pilates and boxing movements, the exercise incorporates certain dance moves from a variety of dance styles, such as ballet, hip hop, and Latin, blending it all into a high-energy interval workout. It uses an interval format because recent studies show that interval training burns the most calories and is the most effective method of improving cardiovascular health.

Many of the individuals who participate in piloxing workouts wear weighted gloves to promote even greater and more rapid results in achieving additional muscle tome and definition.

The piloxing programme also encourages barefoot training because researchers have found that barefoot training strengthens the entire foundation of the body, improves arch support, ankle stability, and body posture and prevents injuries.

Piloxing is great, because you can modify it to your fitness level. Beginners should push themselves to do as much as they can, but focus on mastering the technique of pilates and boxing. And the more advanced students can push themselves harder by powering their movement more, bending deeper, stretching further and by using weighted gloves for a more intense workout.

Piloxing is said to burn 500-900 calories per hour. However, extra calorie burning is not the only benefit. Regular exercise sessions can improve speed, flexibility and stamina, boosting energy levels and providing a more efficient weight loss. It tones the body and strengthens the core. It improves co-ordination, balance, stability and posture. A boost in self-confidence and improved self-image are also the benefits that are worth taking into account.

Each class includes warm up, cool down, and floor work to target specific muscle groups. It is an interval training class, which goes from standing pilates into boxing combinations and incorporates dance segments to transition between the pilates and boxing to keep it fun and interesting.