GolfPlus May 2018 Digital Edition (May 2018) | Page 29

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FROM MY DIARY… MAY 18
By Brandon de Souza
he IPL season is
in full swing and
while it moves
from place to place,
quite a few of the
players, ex- and
present along with
the support staff
have been hitting the
greens wherever and
whenever they get a chance.
This season, I’ve had the chance to
see their interest and enthusiasm ¿ rst hand
at Boulder Hills
Golf & Country
Club. The ‘Little
Master’, Sachin
Tendulkar teed off
on a ¿ ne Thursday
morning while some
of the other visitors
have included
former Sri Lankan
Captain Mahela
Jayawardene, JP
Duminy, Robert
Key, Alex Hales and
many of the support
staff on different
days.
It always
makes me wonder
what makes ex
professional sportsmen take up golf more
and more seriously once they retire. The
longevity of one’s career at the top is
limited, however the competitiveness
never dies and it carries on in any
sport played either during and post the
professional days of an athlete.
Some see golf as a healthy past time
for their bodies can no longer stand the
rigors of full À edged action, though for
quite a few others the proverbial “long
walk spoiled” is quite serious.
We have numerous examples around
the world cutting across almost all kinds
of sports and not just cricket. Cricketers
I believe do not make up a signi¿ cant
number, partly because the numbers are so
small with only a few countries playing.
Modern legends of their disciplines
like Michael Jordan, Michael Phelps,
Andy Roddick and Wayne Gretzky boast
impressive handicaps and have made
several appearances in pro-ams around the
world.
However there have been a few
who have tried their hand at competing
professionally like Basketball star Stephen
Curry who teed up at the 2017 Ellie
Mae Classic on the Web.Com tour and
actually surprised even himself after
shooting 74-74 even though missing the
cut. Andriy Shevchenko has many football
accolades to his name while playing for
Ukraine and AC Milan and he was another
who gave it a go at the 2013 Kharkov
Superior Cup on the European Challenge
Tour. But to date, although regular
competitors in pro-am events, none have
emulated Tony Romo and tried to take on
the pros for real with both sporting pride
and money at stake. He once advanced to
the US Open sectional qualifying was very
close to teeing it up with the likes of Tiger
and Phil back in 2010 when still a part
time player.
While we are at it, this piece will be
never be complete without mentioning
Babe Zaharias, a true sporting legend. The
American athlete achieved huge success
in basketball, track and ¿ eld, and even
found time to win 10
majors on the LPGA
Tour. After winning
two gold medals at
the 1932 Olympics
– in the 80 m
hurdles and javelin
– Zaharias turned
her attention to golf.
Zaharias won 41
career LPGA events,
including 10 major
championships
(which still ranks
fourth on the all-
time list).
Three-time
Grand Slam winners
in tennis, Elisworth
Vines and Frank
Conner are the only two men to have
competed in both the US Open tennis and
golf championships.
In the modern era it is dif¿ cult to
¿ nd time and we may not see as serious
a golfer as Kapil Dev, who has quali¿ ed
to represent India at amateur golf level
recently. But it is catching up and I was
pleasantly surprised to see one of longest
serving Indian hockey captains Dilip
Tirkey play the Bhubaneswar leg of the
Audi Quattro Cup recently.
GolfPlus
MAY
2018
39