About Indian Open - Indian Golf Union in 24 1st Floor, Adchini, Delhi

The Indian Golf Union
Until 1955, the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (established in 1829 and the oldest golf club outside of the UK) virtually managed the affairs of golf in India. RCGC also instituted in 1892 what is now the prestigious “All India” Trophy. The then senior members of RCGC understood that for golf to grow in India more tournaments were needed at all the main golfing centers in the country apart from developing junior programs and sending teams abroad for the International events. Thus the seed of the Indian Golf Union (IGU) was planted.
It was in 1955 that the IGU was registered with the “Royal”, as what RCGC is fondly called, taking the lead. The other founder clubs being the Tollygunge Club, The Bombay Presidency Golf Club, The Delhi Golf Club, The Willingdon Sports Club and the Madras Gymkhana Club. Mr. AD Vickers, the first President of the IGU, worked untiringly to bring the Union into being and was mainly responsible for the preparation of the Rules and Regulations of the society. Major LB Hirst, who was the then Secretary of the RCGC, became the first Secretary of IGU.
The IGU then formally took on the role of the governing body of golf in India and is responsible for the promotion and development of golf and to maintain the high standards of the game in every possible way. The IGU is recognised by the Government of India as the National Sports Federation for Golf. It is affiliated to The R&A, the International Golf Federation (IGF), the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation (APGC) and the Indian Olympic Association (IOA). The IGU is proud to have its Council Member Mr. Dilip Thomas currently serve on the board of the IGF and officiate as the Secretary General of the APGC.
Starting with six golf clubs in 1955 the IGU is proud to now have over 215 golf clubs and 15 State Associations and the Army Zone as members.
The IGU Council of Management is headed by a President and has twenty-four Council members including the Chairperson of the Ladies Committee, six nominees of the Founder Clubs, five Army Zone members and twelve members from the four Zones. The Secretariat has a Director General, Secretary, Director-Golf Operations and other support staff. All Council Members serve the IGU on an honorary basis at no cost whatsoever to the IGU.
SOME OF THE INITIATIVES AND ACTIVITIES OF THE IGU;
Tournaments
All India Amateur: The IGU inherited the All India Amateur championship from RCGC in 1955. First held in 1892, the Amateur Golf Championship is the second oldest tournament in the world, after the British Open (1860). The prestigious event moved out of RCGC for the first time in 1958, when it was held at Delhi Golf Club, to highlight the championship at other golfing centers and has since been held at various cities across the country.
The Indian Open: The Indian Open, a very prestigious event on the Asian Tour, was first held in 1964 and celebrates its golden jubilee this year. The event carries a prize purse of US $ 1.25 Million for 2013 and attracts some of the best players from Asia and Europe.
The Indian Masters: The IGU brought a European Tour event to India for the first time ever in 2008 with an unprecedented prize purse of US $ 2.5 Million. The tournament featured some of the biggest stars from across the world including Ernie Els, Mark O’Meara, Thomas Bjorn and Darren Clarke amongst others. In a spectacular result, homegrown professional SSP Chowrasia scripted a dream victory.
Tours
Professional Tour: The IGU started the Pro Tour in 1975 and created the Professional Golfers Association of India (PGAI) in 1988 and handed over the rights of marketing and managing the Tour to this agency. In 2006 the professional players created a new entity, the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and currently run a very successful and lucrative tour.
National Amateur Tours
The IGU runs and manages the National Amateur Tour, the National Junior Tour and the National Ladies and Junior Girls Tour. The IGU holds 14 categorized tournaments every year for the men, 11 events for the juniors and 9 events for the ladies and girls. Apart from the main Tours, to unearth talent at the grass root level the IGU introduced the Junior-Sub Junior Feeder Tours comprising of 35 tournaments, in 2012. There are 8 events in each of the four zones with 3 national finals. The IGU also conducts Championships for the Seniors, Mid-Amateurs, Inter-State and the Inter-Schools. This year witnesses the birth of the National Inter-Club Tournament.
These tournaments are held around the country and are aimed at nurturing talent while giving the players the much needed exposure to competitive golf. These tours provide a solid base for amateurs to pursue their careers in professional golf.
The IGU has encouraged tours run by other organisations as long as they comply with its general tournament conditions. Notable sanctioned tours are the Callaway Junior Golf Tour, the Champions Junior Golf Tour and the Little Masters Junior Golf Tour.



International events
The Indian team has been participating regularly in many reputed international events like the Eisenhower Trophy (World Amateur Team Championship) since its inception in 1958, the Nomura Cup (Asia Pacific Golf Team Championship) since 1963 and the Asian Games from 1982, amongst others. The IGU sends men, women and junior teams to almost 20 tournaments abroad every year.
The IGU selects the team to represent India in international competitions and in order to ensure that the best players are fielded, at any given time, the Squad System was introduced in 2011. Top players from the men, ladies and juniors tours are selected to the squad where they are given specialised training to hone their skills. Squad members must consistently perform or are replaced during the review period. The teams are then selected from these squads based on performance and selection trials. A National High Performance Manager and Coach has been appointed to monitor the training and performance of the squad members.
Junior Training Program
IGU regularly conducts coaching programs for juniors both at the grass root level as well as “Camps of Excellence” in all the five zones. A structured Junior Program under the able guidance of Dominic Wall was launched in 2009 to attract youngsters to the game and provide them a pathway to play and excel in golf. The program has yielded some good results by producing some of the best players in Asia.
Most of the Member Clubs conduct a Junior Golf Program and the IGU supports them with guidelines and other inputs. Specialised excellence programs structured on the IGU model are also sanctioned, such as those run by the Touché Golf Academy, Champion Reef Golf County and the Golden Swan Country Club.
National Initiative for Golf in Schools (NIGS)

In a bid to promote golf at the grass-roots level, the IGU has undertaken the NIGS Program in 2013. The IGU will train Golf Development Volunteers (GDV) to conduct introduction-to-golf programs in schools throughout the country, especially in the smaller towns and mofussil areas. The program is run in association with Clubs and volunteers from their membership rolls. The concept is to conduct 10 one hour sessions over a period of 5 to 10 weeks to “turn on” youngsters to the game. The talented and interested children from the program will then be channelized to the Clubs’ junior Golf Programs for professional coaching. Any enthusiastic golfer can join in to be trained as a GDV and use their free time to give back to the game they love by roping in youngsters to experience the glorious game. A well-researched and comprehensive manual has been published to guide the GDV through the process in a step-by-step manner.
Bursary
Our country has a great amount of economic disparity amongst our citizens. Golf has been considered a sport only for the “well-to-do” but India has proved this as a misnomer. Many of our stars come from economically challenged backgrounds and there are many more in the pipeline. The IGU supports many deserving players from this section of society and partners with a number of clubs, organisations and individual donors to channelise funds for those in need without compromising their amateur status. The IGU also grants recognition to organisations working on these principles such as the Golf Foundation and Sports for All.
The National Golf Academy of India (NGAI)
The National Golf Academy of India delivered the first structured program to train and accredit teaching professionals in the country in 2004. The program was established with the support of the R&A and with substantial inputs from Dr. Donato Di Ponziano, Deputy Chairman, PGA of Europe. Since its inception the NGAI has accredited over 450 teaching professionals not only from India but Nepal, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Pakistan as well.
The first training centre was established in 2008 in Chandigarh with the Chandigarh Golf Association as host. Individuals desirous of becoming a teaching professional are given the opportunity to learn how to teach the game through a system of continuous education and examination with grading, from Class D to Class A, the latter being the highest level.
The NGAI has brought in world-renowned names to conduct courses in India such as the Harold Swash putting school, Dr.Greg Rose of Titleist Performance Institute (TPI), Donato Di Ponziano and David Kearney of the PGA of Europe.
Rules of Golf & Amateur Status
The IGU administers the Rules of Golf as laid down by the R&A in India. Playing by the Rules is the only way to ensure that all those who play together can enjoy the game without any let or hindrance. The equity of the Rules takes care of any untoward advantage or disadvantage.

Amateur Status: The Rules of Golf include the Rules of Amateur Status and golf is unique in the sense that there is a strict code of rules to be followed if one wishes to retain his or her Amateur Status. The IGU is the apex body for all golf in India and a major responsibility is to ensure Indian amateurs are not in breach of these Rules. The IGU, in consultation with the R&A, has framed numerous guidelines for better understanding of these Rules and they are available on the IGU website.

The IGU is proud to have its Council Member Mr. Dilip Thomas serve as Advisory Member of the R&A’s Amateur Status Committee representing the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation.

Referee Certification Program: In order to further increase the standards of the game especially in its technical conduct, the IGU and the R&A launched the Refereee Training & Certification Program in 2011. It is a three tier program with the Introductory Rules School (C category) and the National Rules School (A & B Caategory). The top two candidates fro the National Rules School are sponsored by the IGU to the Tournament Administrators & Referees School (TARS) conducted by the R&A in Scotland. This program has produced four R&A TARS certified referees and over 30 A Category and over 40 B Category National Referees. The refereeing standards are showing vast improvement and many of our referees are being invited to do duty at various tournaments abroad.

To spread the Rules of Golf to other stakeholders, a Caddy Training Program was launched in 2012 and a Junior Golfers Certification Program introduced in 2013.

The R&A has expressed its satisfaction at the efforts taken by the IGU to propagate Rules and Rules Education in India and has committed substantial support to all of IGU’s endeavours. The IGU is proud to have its Council Member Mr. Ishwar Achanta serve as Advisory Member of the R&A’s Rules of Golf Committee representing the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation.
Tournament Directors Program: With the growth of the number of tournaments in the country it is essential for trained Tournament Directors (TD) to ensure their proper technical conduct. The TD Certification Program was launched in 2012 and 9 individuals have been certified till date. A detailed handbook has also been published on conducting tournamments and the IGU tours and others are continuosly benefitting from this initiative.
National Handicapping Service
The recently launched National Handicapping Service (NHS) is based on the United States Golf Association’s GHIN (Golf Handicap and Information Network) software, which is used in over 60 countries around the world.
Across the world players handicaps are maintained by their national governing bodies of golf including the USA, UK, Australia, South Africa and Europe besides neighbouring nations like Malaysia, Singapore and Indonesia.
With an IGU NHS subscription, golfers need not be members of a golf club to obtain a handicap card that is universally accepted anywhere in the world. This will break down the barrier to enter the game and will enable the rapid growth in golf in the country in the years to come.
Some key features of NHS are the ability for golfers to submit their scores online and check their scoring record on handheld devices, at any golf course. A player’s IGU issued NHS handicap can be verified instantly online by tournament organisers anywhere in the world putting Indian golfers on par with their counterparts in other countries.

Course Rating
An integral part of the USGA handicap system is the “slope rating” of a golf course that establishes the relative difficulty between courses. For the succesful implementation of the NHS the courses in the country need to be course and slope rated and the process was hampered by the limited trained raters availble in India. To hasten the process the IGU had the USGA conduct a Training and Certification course in 2011 and now, with 38 certified raters, over 80 affiliated courses have been rated.
The Green Keepers’ Program

Over the last couple of decades a plethora of international standard courses were developed in India. With their advent came modern equipment and special turf species. During the same period the older courses upgraded their standards and bank of equipment. With these modern practices the need to train green keepers and course maintenance staff intensified. To assist member clubs in this regard a training program was launched by the IGU with support from the R&A in 2011. Dr. Micah Woods, Chief Scientist at the Asian Turfgrass Centre, conducts the workshop in each Zone. Not only are the attendees updated on sports turf care and maintenance but with the help of the Asian Golf Industry Federation they are exposed to the latest equipment and maintenance practices.

There is already a dearth of skilled manpower in the country. Coupled with the number of new projects in the pipeline, the supply shortfall is reaching critical proportions. To address this issue the IGU intends to start a Certification Course for Turf and Course Management in 2014.

Tee 20 – Strategic Plan

Backed with the experience gained over the years the IGU has formulated a Strategic Plan for golf in India. The IGU vision is to ensure that India becomes a leading golf nation in the world by providing more opportunities for participants to start, stay and succeed in the game. Thus, the keystones are, Grow*Sustain*Excel.

Tee 20 is inclusive of all stakeholders and the keys to progress at every level are collaboration, partnerships and interdependence. Mobilizing the golf community to share the one vision of ‘Growing the Game’ across all parts of golf will ultimately result in more people playing, more people playing more often (in better quality environments) and more people realizing their potential.

Tee 20 is being unveiled during the 50th Indian Open and can be downloaded at the IGU website.

In Gratitude

Over the years the IGU could not have achieved even an iota of success if it were not for the constant and unfailing support of our Member Clubs. They have hosted our tournaments and coaching camps, meetings, seminars and conferences, provided staff and expertise as and when required and funded the IGU through subscriptions. A heartfelt thanks to all the Clubs for being the basis of the existence of the IGU.

The IGU places on record its gratitude to the Government of India who have helped and guided the IGU over the years, supported our teams travelling abroad, funded specialized coaching camps and procured modern equipment for the NGAI. The unsung champions of golf being;
•The Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports
• The Sports Authority of India
•The Ministry of Tourism

The IGU is indebted to The R&A for their guidance, help and funding of a number of path breaking initiatives in India. The R&A’s deeds truly exemplify their motto, “Working for Golf”.

The IGU thanks the USGA for their support in training course raters and in rolling out the National Handicap Service.

No organization can progress without the support of well-wishers and sponsors, both individuals and corporates. It is not possible to list everyone here but the IGU places on record the unstinted support it has received from all and especially:
•Rolex SA
•Hero Motocorp Ltd.
•ITC Ltd.
•Tata Steel Ltd.
•Usha International Ltd.
•Toyota Kirloskar Motor Pvt. Ltd.
•AVT Group of Companies