WELL the greatest sporting show on Earth ‘The Olympics’ are over and while one enjoyed the fantastic sporting achievements, I am sure none of us will miss the terrible Doordarshan coverage and commentators we were forced to suffer each day. Heartening to see three individual medals come our way and the promise of many more to come given the right backing.
Looking ahead I had a visitor from Down Under who have a fantastic sports culture and this is what he had to say— “Hey mite, these kids are simply superb. I mean they just kill the driver,” exclaimed Michael, soon after finishing his round at the testing Golden Greens. “This bloke playing with me has the potential to be one of the best in the world,” he said as he poured a glass of beer for himself. Michael who is doing a research on Indian golf admitted that he was shocked to see such talent amongst Indian players. “Do you have any sponsors for these talented blokes to train or participate abroad?” he asked.
Having asked this pertinent question, he took a deep sip of the chilled lager, thanks to Kingfisher who had a “buy one get one” offer which was more than refreshing in the hot Delhi weather. I looked at him and did not know where to begin but the UB logo on the bottle gave me the hint. UB have been supporting golf in their own way and today they sponsor the largest Signature Inter-club golf championship, which gives even the club players, a platform to show their Tiger traits.
Likewise, there has been some heartening news on the national amateur circuit too. LG which was sponsoring cricket on a world scale have deviated a bit to support golf. It was for sure the efforts of the Indian Golf Union to establish a system. Their efforts to promote and develop golf in India received a major shot in the arm with the consumer durables giant taking on the mantle of umbrella sponsorship of the fledging National amateur tour for three years. The Tour is now called as the LG Indian Amateur Golf Tour. ColorPlus who are the official styling partners on the LG Indian Amateur Golf Tour are supporting golf in a big way including the professional tour. CNN apart from sponsering, also acknowledged the one to get a hole-in-one with a Titleist golf set. Pepsi and Aquafina are the official beverage partners. The value of the package would be worth more than Rs 20 million for one season.
Corporate golf is the newest flavour in India as every company targeting a niche audience is taking the help of golf through various means — be it a corporate day out or golf clinics. Where else could you get about 100 top decision makers or high net worth individuals (HNIs) to mingle with and at one place? Golf is being used to promote niche products such as luxury cars, watches, travel destinations and the like. Whatever may be the reason, I feel happy that at least these factors are directly or indirectly helping the growth of golf in India. With more and more sponsors joining the bandwagon and the Indian players already having shown their mettle across the golfing globe, Michael’s words will one day be a reality —We will be world-beaters.

Brandon De Souza is the MD & CEO of Tiger Sports Marketing.