Kolkata
Runners learn golf during Sports Utsav at ECO Park
On May 6, Eco Park Golf Arena 
(EPGA) hosted more than 60 runners as part of Sports Utsav. After completing their 5km run around Eco Park, the competitors converged at EPGA to learn and understand the nuances of golf. They were taught to make “contact” initially with different clubs and then shown the art of putting.
The participants were also taken through the various stages of 
training currently on offer at EPGA — hitting with softballs and plastic balls initially, before focusing on getting contact and yardages right with different clubs and then graduation to the beginners’ course where scoring, course management and course ethics are taught.
EPGA and Decathlon (the sponsor) have decided to conduct more of such programs, on a regular basis, in future which would further enable them to promote the sport.
Noida
Former Pro helps NGC ladies get golfing basics right
Former international golf professional, Amandeep Johl conducted a clinic — “Introduction to the basics of golf” — for the lady golfers of Noida Golf Club on May 4 at the Noida Sports Stadium golf range. 18 women participated and all of them got an insight into the fundamentals of the game while also busting myths that surround it. The two-hour session was followed by individual attention on swing techniques.
The management of the driving range was taken over by Amandeep Johl Golf Academy in April and space has since been spruced up with new mats, an improved turf, new range balls and an all-new Golf café, thereby providing users with a fun golfing experience.
The interactive golf session ended with a long drive competition that was conducted by the newly installed ball tracking simulator at the range, the GC2. Ms. Simran Bajaj emerged winner with a drive of 189 yards.
Separate clinics were scheduled, later in the month, to cover short game, putting and shot shaping (including shots from difficult lies) in an effort to help the ladies reduce their golf handicap.
Nashik
English PGA coach visits Riverside
Riverside Golf Course arranged a training camp for beginners, children and ladies between April 22-24. Extended coaching sessions for players from Nashik and nearby areas such as Aurangabad were also conducted. The initiative was a success, with 28 participants in all. In attendance and assisting the camp was Roger Andrews, a golf coach from England and a member of the PGA of the UK, who is currently heading golf operations at Lighthouse Golf Resort in Bulgaria.
According to Pradeep Bagmar, a retired Air Force serviceman and Chief Promoter of the golf course, two women have taken to the game following the activity and now show up to play every week. Bagmar adds that there are 24 children who play at the course and 10 of them belong to less privileged families.
(Read more in the June issue of Golf Digest India. Download here.)