My Love with Golf

My Love with Golf
Asit Palit, 1963, Civil Engineering

My love affair with golf started more than two decades ago. My passion for golf was ignited by Samir Mitra, my late brother-in-law and Somnath Ray, a very dear friend.

Both avid golfers, Samir and Somnath, coincidentally lived and worked with the National Health Service in Grimsby a picturesque town located on the Humber estuary in NE Lincolnshire. I used to accompany them whilst they played both on the undulating rolling fairways of the Grimsby Golf Club and sparkling greenery of the Tollygunge club. Watching them play, kindled my passion for golf. Once initiated into the game, there was no turning back.

I started playing golf seriously from the year 1998. It gave me the perfect break that I needed from my very stressful job of managing a company. However, the more I understood the game and its myriad intricacies, I realized how it was so much a reflection of life itself., wherein every swing comprises of both infinite possibilities and unending prospects of failure. But, for me it offered a window into a fantastic world…and suddenly, it was as if I had found my purpose in life! It has been from that time onwards my constant endeavour to try and experience golf not only on the stunning greens of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club but in many more beautiful courses around the world.

In 2002, I celebrated my retirement from an active work life with a golfing trip to Scotland. A group of four of us played for about five days on three different courses. The undulating Scottish terrain proved to be extremely difficult to play, especially since it entailed dragging my trolley along with my Golf-Set. We experienced the vagaries of a typical English weather- rain, cold and high winds. I was woefully unprepared for this and had no other alternative but to buy rain-overalls to protect myself from the biting cold showers. However, braving the bleak weather proved to be less difficult than being able to drive straight ensuring that we consistently avert the ball from slicing off towards the Gorse. In Scotland, most fairways are clear and unobstructed, only intermittently dotted with a kind of thorny shrub called Gorse. The problem was that if the ball veered into the rough then retrieving it was very difficult owing to those thorny bushes. Many balls therefore had to be left behind in the bush that day!

In 2005, a group of four played near Newcastle in England for few days. We played in three courses. I remember playing at a links course near the sea. Most of us had never played in a links course before.

Originally ‘links’ was any rough grassy area near the sea; the word being derived from the Anglo-Saxon word ‘hlinc’ meaning a ridge. Links courses usually therefore have sandy soil, and mostly have long wispy grass, which makes playing difficult. Added to that, owing to its location near the sea, one must also be ready to encounter gusty and windy playing conditions. It was therefore very difficult for us to keep the ball in the fairways because of these circumstances.

In 2007, we visited the border counties of England & Wales for about five days as a group of four. We played in three courses and most remarkable of them being a course which stretched across England and Wales; wherein you could literally drive from one hole in England and the ball landed in Wales.

However, my usual golfing experiences in England were mostly in Grimsby where I normally played at the Grimsby Golf Club. My brother-in-law Samir, 92 years old, is on a golf scooter; this is and of course his indomitable spirit is what helped him play till 95 years of age.

This kind of a vehicle is hardly seen here in India. Between 1998 to 2012 I visited USA on many times and played at various courses in Virginia near Washington, D.C, Cary, North Carolina & Los Angeles. In USA I played with my nephew in Cary, North Carolina. (Picture 7) I saw the green being aired by three very large air circulator fans; while it was probably required but it irked me as it was difficult for me to understand how such an inordinate wastage of electricity could be justifiable.

Who has played golf experienced frustrations at oneself. Once playing with my brother-in-law Mr. Mihir Mitra in a Washington, D.C. course I was shown a golf club haAnging from a tree, apparently thrown by one such frustrated golfer in utter disgust at his own abilities. It remained there hanging from the tree, as a testament to golfing foibles. Between 2007 & 2012, I played with my friend Rathin, quite a few rounds of golf in Los Angeles. I remember a course where there was sign post showing various world’s renowned courses with direction & distance. I could not help taking a photo with our very own Royal Calcutta clearly marked.

Prior to my retirement working period from 1998 to 2002 I played in many golf courses in Melbourne (Australia), Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire/Ivory Coast), Cairo (Egypt), Bangkok, Pattaya and Phuket (Thailand), are the ones which in my opinion were unrivalled. I felt this because it was generally quite cheap to play in Thailand; except of course for the one I played in Phuket in 2016 which was quite expensive. Between 2009 and 2011 I used to be a regular visitor to Singapore, as my daughter used to stay there. In Singapore it was difficult to play often, as it was quite expensive. However, I played a few times at the Singapore Island Country Club which has reciprocity with RCGC, Marina Bay Golf Club as well as a course near Changi Airport. In 2010 I had the wonderful experience of witnessing the HSBC Women’s World Championship at Tanah Mera Golf Course in Singapore. It was a great experience to see in action world renowned women’s golf champions from a close range.

An unique experience was playing on a course in Melbourne with kangaroos freely roaming around it, exactly how we see jackals in RCGC and Tolly Clubs. I remember vividly the course in Cairo simply for its location. Mena House, Oberoi where I used to stay had a 9- hole golf course just opposite the Hotel. This course overlooks the Giza Pyramids. It was absolutely awe-inspiring playing golf while the pyramids loomed behind us.

In 2011, while playing in Singapore I befriended Mr. Steven Chew a Singaporean with whom I played at SAFRA in 2011. The same year, while at Singapore we visited Bintan, Indonesia where it was my son-in-law Sandip Ghatak who I played with. In 2011, at Kuala Lumpur I played on a fine course with Mr. Basav Roy Chowdhury and his friend. In 2012 we formed group of eight golfers and visited Dhaka and Chittagong in Bangladesh. We played at Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka and Army Golf Club Course in Chittagong. It was a wonderful experience playing at both the golf courses.

I feel I have been incredibly lucky to have played in so many places around the world and I cherish those memories of time spent with friends and family. I feel golf has helped me to connect to places near and far and have helped me to understand how similar golfers are in spite of our cultural differences.
January 2023, today’s Game at Tolly was in Texas Scramble four Ball better Ball format. Game took more than five hours for 18 holes. We three played as our fourth Saumyo could not play due to Sunita’s sickness. Third Ball Sandip also unable to play properly due to his sprained Knee. Debasis & self had to play all through & game was not bad.

I am happy as I played 18 hole after 3/4 years. It was not a bad experience, after all.