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DISCOVERING THE JOYS
GOLF
A PERSONAL JOURNEY
By Babur Beg | Published Nov 1st, 2024
Golf is a game to be enjoyed. On a blue-sky day replete with puffy white clouds, strolling down a fairway with friends is a little bit of heaven on earth.
We all tend to believe in stereotypes. It’s a part of our genetic makeup. Before I started playing golf, I too subscribed to the archetypical view, which is very prevalent, that golf is slow, boring and a game best left to your golden years. Yet, as an outdoor enthusiast, each time I would pass by a golf course, I couldn’t cease but marvel at fairways dotted with trees, ponds and undulating stretches of grass and wish that I could somehow be there. Living in Gymkhana, Lahore, while working for a development project, about five years ago, I could see the golf course right out of my window. One day, an old Islamabad friend, who was also visiting Lahore, came by and asked me to accompany him. We went to the driving range where he promptly bought me a glove and passed on instructions to a coach. I tried to follow as best as I could, tentatively approaching the T square with a driver. I took my first shot and decided in an instant that this is a sport I would like to continue for as long as I possibly could. In fact, my first thought was that I should have started this two decades ago! The range gave way to the course, to the purchase of a golf set and to regular visits to the Islamabad Club golf course, following my move back to Islamabad. What I witnessed in Islamabad, much to my surprise, was that the “golf bug” was now everywhere. In particular, I could see players in their twenties and thirties, making up at least fifty percent of golfers at any given time. This was true at the practice driving range, which is a good indicator of new aspirants to the game, as well as the course, where you would normally venture after developing a certain skill level. One only needs to tune in to Golf Channel or Sky Sports Golf to realize that this is now indeed a global trend. While many private clubs, internationally, remain exclusive, with limited visitation rights, the opening up of more and more public golf courses has now provided opportunities to all income strata to participate and try to excel. In fact, golf has become more of a lifestyle than just a sport per se. The combination of physical exercise, the opportunity to socialize and to be outdoors at the same time is indeed alluring.
Revenue Potential The revenue potential and concomitant earnings of players associated with golf have expanded tremendously. With traditional, prestigious golf associations such as the Professional Golf Association (PGA) of the United States, there have developed rival sponsoring agencies such as LIV Golf, supported and funded by the Saudi government, and now active globally in organizing competitive golf tournaments. Dominating Countries The sport is still dominated by players from a few developed countries, with the US leading most of the time. Outside of North America and Western Europe, South Africa, Australia and Japan do have a presence, with China now very much on the way. Regarding Pakistan, a few statistics are in order. According to the Pakistan Golf Federation, Pakistan has a total of 49 golf courses, spread over the country. The current membership stands at 19,000. Golf does enjoy a rich history; the foundation was laid during the British colonial era, with many courses such as the Lahore Gymkhana dating to that period. After initial stagnation, post partition, concerted efforts by a few dedicated individuals did keep the sport alive, with the last few decades witnessing notable expansion. As is well known, most courses in Pakistan, with few exceptions, are in the government domain, both civil and military, with limited public access. Many of the Federation’s initiatives are nevertheless commendable, in terms of organization of national level tournaments, talent hunting and sponsorship of players showing promise. A well-maintained website adds to accessibility and availability of information about their activities. Lack of State of the Art Facilities Overall, however, Pakistan is in a deplorable situation, in terms of existence and availability of golf facilities as well as participation in international tournaments. For the sake of comparison, according to Golf Canada, the national governing body of that country, there are more than 310,000 registered golfers in the country. With 2,363 golf facilities, Canada is the third largest golfing nation in the world. Almost 90% of all courses in the country are open to the general golfing public. All this in a country with a population of only 40 million and harsh weather, where it may be difficult to play for at least five months of the year. The availability of ample land does not seem to be the only criteria here because England, much smaller in area, does boast 2270 golf courses according to the Golf Monthly magazine. Our representation in international tournaments has remained abysmal since most players fail to qualify.
Sunset at Islamabad Club Golf course
Creating More Opportunities So what is the remedy? Golf, because of intrinsic high start up costs in terms of land acquisition and development of the necessary infrastructure, is and will remain expensive and out of the reach of many. Many players who participate in local and national tournaments in Pakistan struggle to do so because of financial constraints. Increased corporate sponsorship is one answer. So is construction of more golf courses that are open to the public and can operate as self-sustaining entities from a financial point of view. In fact, opening more and more golf courses is one way to leave green spaces within our overcrowded cities since parks and green belts are often overrun by road construction; Islamabad is a classic case in point. One has only to drive out of Islamabad to witness the destruction of once pristine wilderness by more and more housing colonies. Public regulation mandating golf course construction, alongside parks, as a precondition for approval of new schemes and colonies (currently mushrooming all over) will be a significant first step in this direction.
The writer is a former civil servant and can be reached at [email protected]
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