President Mr. Harish Kumar Shetty Greetings & Good Wishes. I am honoured to be elected as the President of this prestigious club. Along with my team I would like to bring greater glory to the club in our tenure. KGA hosted two major golng events during the year; The Take Solutions Masters and The Bengaluru Open. These tournaments attracted high prole pro-golfers from around the world and has helped in establishing KGA Bangalore, as the major golng destination. We are proud of the achievements of our own member Khalin Joshi in winning the prestigious Panasonic Open at Delhi and the local Pro Viraj Madappa won laurels by winning Take Solutions Masters. Members would have noticed the new academy area at the far end of the driving range. It is a pleasant sight to watch our budding golfers honing their skills and is buzzing with activities. Last year as a Captain of the Club, I realised that we had serious constraints in the short game practice facilities and took-up the task of setting up a fully equipped academy area. A large practice green, bunkers, chipping and other facilities were created after clearing the garbage dump. Members should also utilise these facilities to practice & ne tune short game. The newly built academy range structure is ready for inauguration. KGA will be completing 50 years in 2023 and is gearing up to celebrate the Golden Jubilee year. To commemorate the occasion, we have decided to start some important new initiatives. They are: New Club House project - to create additional infrastructure facilities, Golf Course Upgradation - to keep KGA Course among the top courses in the country, New Golf Course – to address long pending demand of our members. These are long term projects which require focussed team to work on it till the completion of the project. Our proposal for constituting following three standing committees was approved by the general Body. (1) New Club House Committee. (2) Golf Course Upgradation Committee (3) New Golf Course Committee All these standing committees have already started working on their plans for the respective projects. We will come back to the general body for approval of those proposals. As approved by the General Body, we will be engaging a top ranking Golf Course Superintend with the services & expertise of a world class Golf Management Company. Other important decisions taken at the SGM include: (1) Amendment of many rules. (2) Increase in limit of Permanent Members & Services Members; (3) Substantial increase in monthly intake of members/associates, (4) Revision in Admission fees for various categories, etc., Intake of new members has given a great relief for many applicants who have been waiting for about 18 years. Acceptance of new applications has created tremendous excitement and there has been over whelming response. KGA has always been investing surplus funds in the Bank Deposits. It was felt that we should explore some better yielding options without compromising on safety of funds. In order to give expert advice for investment planning, based on SGM approval we have constituted an Investment Committee, which is a standing committee consisting of nancial experts. continued on page 2 The SGM held on the 13th January has approved new projects proposed by the MC. The projects are; A new bar in the business lounge area (Earlier Double Eagle bar); a modern SPA at the driving range; and upgradation of the Starter Hut & entry area from the main parking lot. All these projects have already been nalised and the work is in full progress. We have also got the SGM approval for upgradation of the 1st & 8th water bodies. The technical details are being nalised & the work will Bringing in the New Year KGA style commence soon. We request the members to bear with inconveniences caused during the project execution. The ofce bears & each of the committee members have been doing their best in their respective portfolios. Wishing all of you Very Happy & Prosperous New Year Captain Mr. Vinod Chinnappa. M It is a great honour to be the Captain of a premier golf club. It goes without saying that the challenges are plenty and we have split the portfolio broadly into two sections. One is on the improvement of the course and the other on how to improve the facilities and training setup of the Junior Golf Academy. The Junior Golf program is progressing well under the able stewardship of Mr. Bamby Randhawa. The number of children who have enrolled in the academy have increased manifold and we have some champs from the Junior Camp shining in many of the feeder tournaments. Special thanks to our leading pro – Mr Rahil Gangjee who has been kind enough to devout his time in improving the skills of the Juniors at the Camp. Our ultimate aim is to make KGA a strong hub for golfers. The Course is in great condition thanks to the relentless efforts of Mr. Prashanth Sakamuri, the Committee Member in-charge and his sub-committee and the dedicated team of course employees. We are trying to improvise on the gardening and do more landscaping on non-playing areas to make the course picturesque and scenic. Here, I take a lot of pride in saying that our course has been nominated several times as the Best Golf Course in Asia. The area around the First Tee Box will soon see improvements which include a small gallery around it. A proposal is also on the anvil to improve the water bodies at 1 & 8th, details of which will be shared with you all shortly. The creation of a vast Putting and Chipping area at the far end of the driving range has received a lot of praise. Additionally, we are also in the process of creating a cafeteria, video analysis centre etc. for the members as well their guests. We are also working on the modalities of conducting Interclub matches involving the Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Delhi Golf Club and the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on a quadrangular type of format. The other inter club games with Bangalore Golf Club and Hyderabad Golf Association are going on as scheduled. Finally before I sign off let me inform you all that the club has entered into special reciprocal arrangements with Royal Springs Golf Club, Kashmir and ITC Classic Golf Course, Gurgaon, Tanjong Puteri Golf Resort, Johor, Dubai and Abu Dhabi. Hon. Secretary Making his mark Dr. M.G. Bhat New Initiative Open House Season’s Greetings and a very happy 2019! Thank you very much for giving me this opportunity to be the secretary of the KGA. It is with A new initiative by the pleasure that I share my thoughts in this newsletter. Getting used to the role has been a rough ride! With time I can see myself improving! President, Mr. Harish Shetty And making all efforts to address issues and complaints with personal involvement. was the Open House Meeting on 31st Oct 2018. Members We have started our term year with the intake of new permanent members after a lapse of 18 years. The lease renewal made this possible. spoke to the Managing The front ofce staff have gone through stress and pressure of collecting the difference of fee, arranging interviews, satisfying members and Committee and discussed their applicants. These issues indirectly reected on the efciency of our ofce! Large number of wait-listed applicants have paid their difference concerns and shared their of fee. At the same time some have withdrawn. There were many where we made extra efforts in the form of multiple mails to the candidates, suggestions on how KGA can their proposer and seconders, telephone calls, notice board requests to members, website and paper ads. Finally, we succeeded in tracing be improved. The interaction most of these applicants. We are in the process of creating an efcient and friendly administration. The most important aspect we need is was fruitful, around 60 integrity, honesty and friendship in the system. I seek all your support and cooperation is establishing this culture in KGA. members attended and the It will be nice if many can make use of the KGA App. We are constantly improving on the content and updates. We wish to become more topics discussed were course digital in our communication and nancial dealing with the club. Digital billing and digital transactions like elsewhere needs to become management, buggy use, popular and accepted by all. communication with members Khalin Joshi and child membership. Won the Panasonic Open India continued on page 3 2 11 Both the car park and 4th hole cases appear to be progressing in our favour. The government is actively involved in helping Proposed SGM projects us with these cases. The work for the recent SGA approved new projects are in progress. We are also in the process of reorganising the management of the golf course. Professional management of the course is the key to improve and maintain high standards in the course. Starter’s Hut/Pavilion My sincere thanks to many of you who are taking keen interest to help me with my work. With the support of our staff, and all the members of our committee we will take KGA to newer heights. Hon. Treasurer Mr. Prithvi Raj Urs The Finance Sub-Committee decided to take up on priority the maximization of returns from investing the club’s signicant cash holdings. Idle funds in current accounts was reduced and a system has been put in place to ensure that only funds required for operations were allowed to be held in these non-interest bearing accounts. The surplus funds were then invested in FDs across banks after a comprehensive review and some stiff negotiations to ensure optimum returns.