Golf training for 2014 Asian Games kicks off

KATHMANDU, Sept 8: After playing a number of international tournaments, senior golfer Tashi Ghale had proclaimed that Nepal could not excel in international events as there are no programs to develop the sport.

However, Nepali golf could change its course in future as Nepal Golf Association (NGA), in association Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd, on Wednesday kicked off Surya Nepal NGA Youth Golf Coaching Program, an ambitious training project aimed at producing golfers who could win a medal at the 2014 Incheon Asian Games.[break]

“We could not excel at the international tournaments as we didn´t develop the game from the grassroots level. With this project we can expect a medal from the Asian Games,” said Ghale, who is general secretary of NGA.

NGA and Surya Nepal have selected seven youth golfers from Surya Nepal NGA Youth Golf Programme in the first phase. The selected golfers will be kept under a closed camp for 90 days and the last four will be chosen for a three-year training plan.

Dinesh Prajapati and Bikash Bogati, from Kathmandu, Kamal Tamang, from Pokhara, and Dharan´s Michal Rai are the top four youths selected for the closed camp while Ashish Priyar and Kamal Thapa, of Kathmandu, and Sanjeev CK, of Pokhara, complete the standby-quota.

All the selected golfers are serving at different golf courses of the country as caddy and are of the 19-22 years age group. The selected seven are from the underprivileged strata of the society and are determined to make the most of the opportunity.

NGA and Surya Nepal organized a press conference and teed off the training program on Wednesday.

The selected golfers will train five hours a day, five days a week.

Surya Nepal Vice-president, Marketing, Laishram Buddha Singh informed that the company will sponsor all the expenses of the golfers for three months. After the selection of final four, Surya Nepal will take care of all the expenses of three players while NGA will support one golfer. “We have been supporting golf in Nepal and this is yet another avenue,” said Singh.

Singh instructed the players to be disciplined and show eagerness and willingness to learn during the training.

NGA General Secretary Ghale also instructed players to take the full advantage of the opportunity. “Maintain discipline, grab the opportunity and fulfill the dream of winning medal in Asian Games,” Ghale told players.

Golf consultant and managing director of Tiger Sports Brandon D´Souza will look after the training project and veteran Nepali pro Deepak Thapa Magar will lead the coaching team. Coach D´Souza said the commitment of the players would be the key factor for the final selection. “All the seven players will get fair chance to make it to the next round,” he said.

Royal Nepal Golf Club pro Sachin Bhattarai, Pokhara coach Bhuwan Gurung and Dharan pro Suman Sapkota will look after day-to-day training while NGA member and pro-golfer CB Bhandari will coordinate the whole project.

“It will cost around Rs 300,000 to keep a player in the training camp for a year as we will bear all the expenses of the selected players and also provide pocket money to them,” said.