THE MONTHLY GAZETTE August 2017

Noida Golf Course

With Compliments from SmallWorld Digital Services EDITORIAL

Well begun is half more achievers in this sport in our midst. done. E-news will We promise to find them and report in our stay! It gives me forthcoming issues. Our special kudos to immense pleasure Shri Gangesh Khaitan for winning the senior to share that the category. Shri Gagan Verma was the winner July 2017 issue of in the mid category and Shri Simarjit Singh the E-News Letter was the Runner Up in the mid category. launched as en- Shri Vijay Kumar Bhadana achieved the third visaged, on July 6 place in the senior category. These are all succeeded in kin- Commodore VK Thakur, admirable members of our club who have VSM (Retd) Editor dling interest among made NGC ever so proud. Our heartiest members. Members congratulations to them once again and we have responded and taken interest. The wish them continued success in future. launch kindled memories of yore. In its dig- Lastly, I invite all our members to participate ital format the focus is on making it an in- in E-news. We welcome members to be a teractive port. Envisaged as a lively port for reporter for E-news. Entries will be consid- members’ interaction I am sure in coming ered by team edit and carried in forthcom- months this will form a part of our daily net. ing issues. Your participation will make it an We will strive to make it more conveniently informative and lively port that we are all accessible on net. hungering for. I am sure with your continued Monsoon is all over us. The weather support and the vision of our Board Pres- has been extreme from pleasant and cool to ident, E-news will continue to enrich mem- humid and hot. Golfing has remained unaf- ber experience at NGC. fected by weather extremes. The Course play has been as frequent as usual. Diehard Members are requested to send in their con- golfers have continued to throng the Course tributions, articles and write- up at: to score birdies and hole- in-one. Brig PN Malhotra (Retd) scored his fifth Hole-in- one url to access email id: on 18 July 2017 during his membership in http://noidagolfcourse.com/webmail NGC. Wonder if that’s not already a record of sorts. user id : I am glad to share about the sporting [email protected] achievers among our member fraternity. Our members excelled and made laudable achievement at the All Amateur Golf Championship 2017 played in July at Banga- lore. This is a national level event by IGU. It is also a basis for selection of the national Editorial Team: team. Some members earned a place in Shri PS Sharda, Brig Suresh Bali (Retd) Indian Team. I am sure there must be many Shri Amit Dube and Col Tejindar Singh

2 Senior Amateur Golf Championship of India 2017

This national level tournament was introduced in 1971 and being played once in a year for the national title amongst senior golfers in the age of 55 + The event is organised and run by Indian Golf Union the controlling body of golf in India. This event apart from deciding on the National some unforeseen reasons and Vijay Kumar Bha- Champion also is the base for selection of the dana another member of our club and two times team for International tournaments, like Asia Pa- national senior champion has been selected to cific Golf Championship held in different coun- replace him. tries by rotation. In the past 5 years this APGC has been held in Australia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, Along with this senior Championship Mid Am- China and Philippines. This year this tournament ateur Golf Championship was also held in the is being played in Australia. age group of 35+ to 54. This was won by Ga- gan Verma with excellent rounds of 77, 73, 73 This year the tournament was also to select the and 70. He was the only player to have played Indian team in the age group of 50 + to play under par round in the entire tournament. He against South Africa at Johannesburg in August. beat Simmarjit Singh our member by 4 strokes. Both Gagan and Simmarjit are members of our Golfers from all over the country participated in club. Other members of the team selected for this event. We had players from , , the South Africa team are H S Kang and Sanjay , , Deh radun, , Uttar Lakra for the age group of 35+. Pradesh, , , , , and Qatar.

The tournament was won by Gangesh Khaitan a member of our club, who played very well with scores of 77, 76 and 81to beat Rishi Narayan by 8 strokes with scores of 81,84 and 77 The event was played over 3 rounds at in Bangaluru in the last week of June. There were a total of 43 participants with 4 ex National Cham- pions and 4 ex Nation senior Champions. For the team to South Africa Gangesh Khaitan finished ahead of David De’souza by 2 strokes and the other members selected to play in South Africa in the age group of 50 + were Rishi Narayan and Anil Jule. Unfortunately Gangesh in the last moment withdrew from the team due to

3 Hole It's History One of our NGC Members, Shri P.K. Soni Mem. No. 2415 had the occasion to in One play golf at the Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland, more than a decade ago.He was a esteemed guest of his friend. It is universal, every golfer craves to Mr Soni created history by achieving Two achieve a Hole-in-One in golf. The achieve- Holes-in-One in a single round of 18 Holes. ment is the truly rarest of the rare. No matter What an achievement ! A life time dream! how hard one tries, it happens only through And please note the magnanimity and some good luck and may be its a good acci- gracefulness of the St Andrews Golf Club. dent. They gave Mr Soni the Life Membership of the Club. Members who have achieved a Hole- in-One in NGC in the last six months are list- What an outstanding distinction and ed below: Our heartiest congratulations to honour to possess. each one of them and we wish them many Our heartiest congratulations to Mr more Soni, though belated !!!

(a) 11 Jan 2017 Brig AK Bhatia (Retd) Mem. No. 1999 Hole No 3 (b) 31 Mar 2017 Shri Roshan Sahay Mem No. 5470 Hole No 5 (c) 20 May 2017 Brig VK Manchanda (Retd) Mem .No. 3639 Hole No 5 (d) 30 May 2017 Mrs Rashmi Singh Mem No. 2326 Hole No 16 (e) 24 Jun 2017 Col Surjit Singh (Retd) Mem. No. 0714 Hole No 5 (f) 18 Jul 2017 Brig Malhotra (Retd) Mem No. 1988 Hole No 5

4 Reciprocal Golf Arrangements.

NGC is proud to announce that it has (c) Chandigarh Reciprocal golf arrangements with some of (d) New Delhi Air Force Sports Complex the best Golf Clubs in India. Conversely, they (Golf Club) have such arrangements with NGC because (e) Delhi Cant. Army Golf Course they find NGC is amongst the best Golf (f) Hindan Air Force Sports Complex Courses in the country. Needless to add that (Golf Club) members of other Clubs who visit and play (g) Panchkula Panchkula Golf Club a round on our Course are full of praises for (h) Jaipur Rambagh Golf Club the Greens, fairways, the layout etc of our (i) Kolkata Ltd Course. We do have members of outstation (j) Lucknow Lucknow Golf Club Clubs visiting NGC occasionally, but those (k) Mumbai Bombay Presidency Golf from the NCR Clubs are on an average 2-3 Club every day (Weekdays)Llist of Golf Clubs with (l) Ooty Ootacamund Gymkhana who we have reciprocal arrangement are as Club. under: (m) Pune Poona Golf Club (n) Shillong The Shillong Club Ltd (a) Karnataka Golf (o) Vadodara EME School Golf Club. Association (b) Belgaum Belgaum Golf Association

Please note: In some Clubs certain terms and conditions apply. Details available with Secretary NGC. Those of our members desirous to utilizing golf reciprocal arrangement with other Clubs are requested to contact the Secretary / General Manager NGC, and obtain a Card / Letter which will enable them to meet the purpose.

5 The Back Bone of the Course.

Starters

We have a band of able and responsi- ble Starters. Each one of them has acquitted their duties efficiently and effectively. All the

Kishan Pal, Shiv Dutt, Kaushik & Sandeep

er starting order as per bookings and assign appropriate tees. He is to supply players with score cards, pencils and rules of play

Starter is to ensure proper opening and Jairam & Mukesh closing hours of the Course. He provides all information regarding the Course, play time four above mentioned Starters have been in and acts as the centre for all information on service in NGC for over two decades They Local Rules etc. It is his duty ensure the dress have been found to be polite and courte- regulations of the players, check Green Fee ous, yet firm in the performance of their vouchers of guests and also the discipline of responsibilities. the Caddies on Course.

As we all know, the Starter is respon- We are proud to note that all NGC sible for efficient management of arranging Starters have never been found wanting in Tee Off of all golfers as per Local Rules in any of their responsibilities. We would like to the Club He is to arrange players in prop- compliment them all for their performance.

6 The Able Course Marshals in NGC.

Each one of them has acquitted their du- him the group must comply with his direc- ties efficiently and effectively. Both Mukesh tions. This is in interest of pace of play to and Jairam have been in service in NGC for avoid hold up of play on Course. The deci- over two decades Both have immense expe- sion of the Marshal is final and players must rience in various duties like the Starter and cooperate always Caddy Master, also. They have been found . to be polite and courteous, yet firm in the Marshal is to ensure repair of davits, performance of their responsibilities raking of bunkers by caddies / players. He . is to ensure that no damage takes place on The Course Marshal is responsible to Course. ensure pace of play and when requested by All and all, the Marshal is responsible for Course discipline both by players and the caddies.

We thank all our golfers for their co- operation and understanding to have made golf more interesting in NGC.

Has great professional knowledge in maintenance of the golf course. An effective leader of ground staff.

Sunil Jha. The Course Supervisor

7 Golf Junior Training Programme

The Role of a Sports Parent (1) You Live At Times Through Your Child. It is well experienced that seventy (2) You Evaluate Your Child's Success Or Fail five percent of all young golfers drop out of ure Based on his or Her performance, Not His Or Her Happiness. golf by the time they are 13. Why? Because (3) You're Over Critical of Your Child's golf is no longer fun for them. Playing and Performance competing no longer brings them satisfaction (4) You Over Coach Your Child On The or happiness. Parents and coaches, have the Sideline power to determine whether your child will (5) Your Child Is Parent-Motivated,Not drop out of golf or stay with it. Parents and Self-Motivated. coaches, have the ability to build your child's confidence, ensure he or she feels successful This is good useful information for all parents of and has fun. child golfers. These are 5 common characteristics that can undermine a child's experience. Most golf parents experience some of these By : Amit Dube Golf Pro thoughts or feelings sometime during their child's golf career.

8 The History of Golf

Some historians believe that golf originated in the Netherlands(the Dutch word kolf means club),but the Romans had a game played with a bent stick and a ball made out of feathers that may have been the original source of the game. In any event, it has been fairly well es- tablished that the game of golf actually was devised by the Scots in the 14th and 15th cen- tury. The game became so popular in Scot- land that in order to keep people from playing golf and football during the time that should have been employed in practicing archery, a military necessity, the Scottish Parliament in 1457 passed a law prohibiting both games. The Scottish people, however, largely ignored this and similar laws and early in the 16th cen- tury James IV, King of Scotland, took up the game of golf. His granddaughter Mary, later Mary, queen of the Scots, took the game to France, where she was educated. The young men who attended her on the golf links were known as cadets, "pupils"; the term was ad- opted later in Scotland and England becom- ing caddy or caddie. In England the game was made popular by the attention given by James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, and his son Charles I.

By: Amit Dube Golf Pro

9 Tee to Green How to Save Strokes & Get Out Of Trouble

Club Distance Chart On The Tee!

Club Beg. Ave. Pro. Plan ahead! (You may not need a driv- er.) Woods (Distance shown in yards) Plan your first shot to et you up for the 1 170+ 220+ 250+ best second shot. If you want a 100 yard shot 3 160-170 200-220 220-240 to the green you may need only a 3 wood 5 150-160 180-200 200-220 from the tee. On a par 5 a 3 wood and tow 7 irons may be the safest route. Irons Picture the shape of your shot 2 160-170 200-220 225-240 3 150-160 190-200 215-225 (fade or draw, hook or slice) and pick 4 140-150 175-190 200-215 a target. Plan to hit away from trouble, the 5 125-140 165-175 185-200 normal shape of your shot will keep you safe. 6 115-125 155-165 170-185 7 105-115 145-155 155-170 Always use a tee 8 90-105 135-145 145-155 9 80-90 125-135 135-145 To tee off regardless of the club se- P-W 60-80 100-125 115-135 lected. S-W 40-60 80-100 90-115 Set your tee

in the ground within the markers but set-up your alignment based on your target. Sometimes the hole layout or tee markers can lead you to aim into trouble.

10 Playing In the Wind Sand Shots

Into the wind- knock down shot

• Set-up with ball back in stance • Use a less lofted club(ex. Use a 5 or 6 instead of a 7) • Allow for little or no roll • Use a relaxed ¾ swing • Limit your weight shift with more weight on the left foot.

From a good lie:

• Open your stance, aim slightly left • Open the clubface • Place ball off of left heel in stance • Use a steeper than normal swing • Hit the sand 2 inches behind ball (resist Wind from behind: the urge to dig for the ball) • Follow through the swing. • Set up with ball in normal stance • Use your normal swing From a buried lie: • Use a more lofted club • Allow for more roll • Normal stance • To gain extra distance place the ball • Slightly closed clubface slightly ahead in your stance and • Place ball in middle of your stance. slightly open the clubface. • Use a steeper than normal swing • Hit 1 inch behind the ball Sidewinds: • Use little follow through • Allow for extra roll • Use your normal stance • Use your normal swing Clubface guidelines: • Aim to the side the wind is coming from and let the wind move the ball • Closed clubface for buried lies • Use a knock down shot(see above) to • Square clubface for hard/wet sand lessen the impact of the wind. • Open clubface for soft sand

11 Chip Shots

Pitching-less than 50 yards

• Use a pitching wedge or sand wedge • Open stance/feet close together • Place ball back in your stance • Limit sway with weight on left • Use a ¾(or shorter) swing • Think of hitting down on the ball (don’t try to lift or scoop the ball)

Chip Shot-just off the green

• Use a club (5-9 iron)to land on the front of the green and roll to the hole • Open stance/feet close together On The Green! • Place ball back in your stance • Hands are slightly ahead of the ball Reading the green • Limit sway with weight on left • Use a short backswing with arms • Study the overall slope of the green. close to the body (use a putting • Which way is the grass leaning? stroke if you are close enough) (a putt rolling with the grain will be faster that a putt against the grain). • Plan your putt while others are playing. • Over-read on the uphill side (a ball that falls below the hole has no chance at going in). • Once you line up the putt focus on distance (never up-never in)

Hitting your putt.

• Keep your head and body still with your eyes over the ball. • Accelerate and follow through at im pact whatever the distance. • On your practice swings think only of distance and a smooth swing.

12 Getting out of Trouble! Uphill, Downhill & Side hill Shots Over a tree: Uphill Lie:

• Choose one club more • Select a less lofted club(the uphill lie (ex. 7 instead of 8) adds loft) • Place ball forward in the stance • Choke down on the club • Open your stance and clubface • Place the ball forward in your stance • Match the plane of your shoulders to • Keep hands behind the ball the angle of the hill • More flex in the left leg Under a tree: • Limit the backswing and sway • Aim slightly right of the target • Choose a less lofted clube • Place ball back in your stance Downhill Lie: • Close your stance and clubface • Select a more lofted club(the downhill • Keep weight on left foot lie decreases loft) • Choke down on club • Place the ball back in your stance • Use a short/low follow through • Match the plane of your shoulders to the angle of the hill Out of the rough: • More flex in the right leg • Limit the backswing and sway • Aim slightly left of the target. • Choose a more lofted club (ex. 7 instead of6) Side hill- ball is below your feet • Place ball in middle of stance (this shot will naturally move left to right) • Open your stance and clubface • Aim slightly left of target • Select a less lofted club(to use with a • Keep weight more on left ¾ swing) • Aim slightly left of the target • Use a steeper swing. • Close the clubface slightly • More flex in both legs • Weight is more on the heels • Use a ¾ backswing. • Limit sway and swing smooth

Side hill- ball is below your feet (This shot will naturally move right to left)

• Select a less lofted club(to use with a ¾ swing) • Aim slightly right of the target • Open the clubface slightly • Weight is more on the toes • Choke down on the club • Place the ball back in the stance • Use a ¾ backswing • Limit sway and swing smooth.

13 Panther Golf Club was located in the Can- tonment of Amritsar. It is a beautiful 18 Hole course surrounded by Army units on three sides, GOLF UN- eucalyptus tree line and swimming pool close by. In April 1984, Panther Golf Club decided to or- ganize OCM Open Golf Tournament. Invitations DER BULLETS to all golf clubs in North India were sent but the response from all clubs was very poor. Every one cited the ‘law and order’ situation in Amritsar, the SHADOW: problem. It was 1984 and Punjab was experiencing active terrorism activities led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Army was on alert all the time to meet any serious untoward incident in Amritsar, 1984 Gurdaspur area of North Punjab. Police was doing a good job in trying to contain violence and maintain fragile peace. the participants were AVM KK Sangar, Col Kewal Panther Golf Club decided to take offensive Ramani and myself, all now members of NGC. and invite professional golfers from various parts Naik K Gopal and Major CV Pratap were tied at of India, especially Delhi to make the of OCM two under, after 72 holes. Naik Gopal emerged tournament a success. On personal request, top winner on the second sudden death hole, leav- professionals of the 1980s, Randhawa brothers, ing CV Pratap the runner up. Western Command Bamby and Bunty, confirmed their participation. Team won the championship under manager Maj We approached the Secretary for Gen GPS Bindra, now a senior golfer at NGC to- sending a team for the Tournament. The Secretary day. DGC Commodoer SK Chatterjee (Retd) assured The Tournament concluded at about 1230 us that he will be able to motivate about 12 Pros hours on 31 May 84, and participants were herd- to participate in the Tournament. Sure enough ed, literally, to the prize distribution venue. The about 16 young professionals of varying handi- prizes were distributed by 1400 hours and all par- caps from zero to ten were escorted to Amrit- ticipants were, post haste, dispatched south of sar by train by our men. They were lodged within Beas River by 1700 hours in Army vehicles. The the Cantonment and provided food for the dura- event reminded me of the poem by Sir Charles tion of the Tournament. To entertain them, free Wolfe describing the ‘burial of Sir John Moore’ in cinema tickets to the Panther (Defence) Cinema Spain during the Napoleon era. were provided and round the clock VCR showing Slowly and sadly we laid him down, latest movies was installed. The 72 hole Tourna- From the field of his fame fresh and gory; ment, recognized by the IGU, was fought closely We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, and played in competitive spirit. The OCM Trophy But we left him alone with his glory. was won by Inder Pal and Om Prakash was the The area North of Beas River was placed runner up, both from Delhi Golf Club. I remember under curfew and Amritsar area was quarantined participation of Mr Ali Sher (he later won ‘India from the world, physically and electronically, the Open’ at Delhi twice in the 90s) who played to 7 same afternoon. Army had been requisitioned for handicap. operation Blue Star. Rest is tragic, but part of his- In the last week of May 84, the Inter-Ser- tory. vices Golf Championship was also organized at By the Panther Golf Club. The Championship com- Col Tejindar Singh (Retd) menced on 28 May 84 with teams from five Army NGC Member ( 2436) Commands, IAF and Navy participated. Among

14 The Golf Bag Store Room is Heaving !

Like all reputable Golf Clubs in India, NGC also has provision of a large size Golf bag store room. Presently, approx 600 members have availed the space to keep their golf bags inside. They draw out the bags on as required basis and on completion of the game they store the bags back. There is a nominal subscription charge of Rs 50 per member per month, to avail the space in the Store Room. Surely and agreeably, this small charge of Rs 50 a month is pittance, in present time. NGC has plans to revise this amount up- wards. So, we’ll learn about this in due course.

It is disappointing to note that we have ap- prox 400 other members of the Club who are on the “Wait List” to find a place in this Golf Bag Store Room. Due to paucity of space the situa- tion is getting bad. While efforts are on to identify some other suitable room for the purpose, it is not easy.

It is also disappointing to learn that there are many members who have kept their golf bags in the Golf Bag Room and have stopped playing golf and there are some others who play golf most infrequently. NGC has plans to request these members to kindly vacate the space and make way for those on the wait list.

By Golf Captain

15 FROM THE LADY GOLF CAPTAIN’S DESK

The Ladies Section is growing every day. This month four new members were inducted. Activities in this hot and humid weather were minimal, with the Monthly Medal Round. The Winner was Ms. Sunita Dutt and Runner up Mrs. Renu JP Singh. Congratulations to both….. “Saavan aaya Jhoom ke” The onset of the lush green month with lots of rain saw an excitement. The Teej was celebrated enthusiastically by the Ladies, on the 25 th of July at the Cof- fee Morning. Each and every Lady was dressed up most beautifully in ethnic wear and green was the theme of the day. Aashna Monga was crowned the ‘Saavan Queen’ wom- en crooned the saavan songs impromptu , played a round of Tambola and enjoyed the chatpata chaat followed by the befitting takeaways of sweet ghevar and Rainbow coloured Bangles. I am sure the golfing and non golfing members must have had a great Morning.

By: Lady Golf Captain

16