GolfPlus June 2018 Digital Edition (June 2018) | Page 30

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An ‘Epic’ display of golfing prowess: JGL Season-II
Jamshedpur is that one city that has a total frenzy for Sports. You barely fi nish with one
extravaganza be it soccer league, Hockey, summer-camps for thousands of school students
to name but a few and you are on to another ! This one is on Golf and at the helm of all
of these is Sunil Bhaskaran who believes in the axiom “Sports is a way of Life” ! And is
feverishly raising the bar beyond limits.
- by Farzan Heerjee
s the temperature
climbed steadily,
the Jamshedpur
golfi ng fraternity
was ready to
‘putt it’. Yes we
are talking about
the Jamshedpur
Golf League
(JGL) - Season II, which took centre-stage
of the city’s golfi ng circuit after receiving
an overwhelming response for its fi rst-ever
season, last year.
Under each captaincy, Golf at
Jamshedpur has attained new highs. Here
it will certainly be noteworthy to mention
that JGL is the brainchild of the present
captain, Mr Sunil Bhaskaran. Taking cue
from the rising sports fervour in the city, Mr
Bhaskaran wanted this zeal to extend and
sustain even in the golfi ng greens where
golfers could connect with the larger group
over a three-month golf tournament. We
are talking about those months when the
Jamshedpur citizenry prefers cool interiors
Sunil Bhaskaran, Captain Jamshedpur Golf, will always be
remembered for introducing JGL...
40 G o l f P l u s
JUNE
2018
rather than the sweltering heat. However,
golf lovers being the clan that they are, were
ready to face the heat, if only a challenging
tournament such as the JGL came their way!
An anxious wait of 12 months and some
alterations in the rules, JGL-II received an
enthusiastic start on March 24-25, 2018,
with participation from 12 teams and 132
club golfers. While some teams retained
their team names and core players from
the last season, the others welcomed few
new ones and some more fancy titles. Eight
players each formed the core of the team
while three more were added by means
of lottery from the open pool. The rules
mandated at least 1 lady golfer to be part of
the core eight and each of the 11 fi nalists be
given at least one match in the round robin
league stage.
The league stage kicked off with
staggered play on Beldih and Golmuri golf
courses between Saturday and Sunday.
With 12 teams divided into two pools, it
was a beautiful spirited weekend at the
two courses. It was defi nitely interesting
to see the match play format followed at
the JGL, with points for fi xture decided as
3 for a win, 0 for a loss and 1 for a draw.
Any eight players from one team could
play on a given day with a 4-group & 2 vs
2 match play format. Teams racked their
brains to strategise on the best playing
eight, judging closely the opponent’s
strengths and weaknesses along with their
handicaps. Maximum strokes allowed to
a rival player could not exceed 18. The
golfi ng fervour remained unaffected by the
intermittent clouds and occasional rains that