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No longer a rich man's game
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Golf puts a man's character on the anvil and his richest qualities - patience, poise and restraint - to the flame.
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A lunch of avid golfers putting on the greens at EPGC. Photo: C.V.Subramanyam.
As the early morning sun shines on the turf cutting through the tall palmyra trees, the dew perched on the blades of the grass glistens like a shinning pearl. The sweet fragrance of moist soil hanging all around the 100 acres of lush green meadows enriches the tipsy ambience. The tranquillity is embellished by the occasional chirp of a flying bird or by the mellifluous call of a cuckoo that pierces the stillness of the air to remind us the beauty and bounty of Mother Nature.
Well that's about the natural setting that welcomes you at the East Point Golf Club of Vizag. The club incepted in 1884 is not only one of the oldest in the country, but existed at the time when even an occasional game of cricket was a rarity.
Founded by the officers of the British garrison and the Railways, was initially attached to Waltair Club making it purely a white man's domain. The golf link with nine holes was set on a piece of land leased from the zamindar of Cheemudu and was located on what is now called VUDA Park.
In the early part 1900, the club was renamed as East Point Golf Club from Waltair Club Golf Club, due to some problems arising between the club management and the landowners.
During the World Wars, it was closed only to be revived in 1955 by the Americans of the then Caltex Oil Refinery and was maintained by them till 1964.
The year 1964 has lot of significance in the club's glorious annals. It was then shifted from the old area to its present location beside the Mudasarlova reservoir. The Vizianagaram ruler, who was also a golfer, was instrumental in getting the 100 acres of land sanctioned from Municipality for a 99 year lease at an annual rent of Rs. 500 and on the condition that the entire land was to be developed in 10 years.
Golf in those days was confined to the affluent few. The club's development was left to the members who by dint of hard work and dedication could develop the barren land into a nine-hole course by the end of that year. All the members put in their mite to develop the course but a few outstanding and worth a mention are the likes of S.N. Bayankar, S.Y. Kotwal, Bhatia, P. N.Murthy, M.R. Sripada Rao and D. D. Chadha. The Eastern Naval Command also played a major role in the development of the course.
A bird's eye view of EPGC - sprawling greens amidst tall palmyra trees.
By 1974, the club was raised to an 18-hole course on the entire 100 acres with excellent fairways between the greens and the browns. The course has the God's gift of natural hazards, roughs and most of the bunkers adjoining the greens had come with the originality of the land.
What is seen today is certainly a beautiful golf course with all the natural settings, but every single development and for that matter even the air is gratified to the members for their contribution in making it look as it is today.
Today the game is no longer the old birdie's game but we can see young men like Saher and Yadav barely in their teens "teeing off" early in the morning at the course. For this, we may thank the satellite channels for beaming `PGA Tours' live and making Tiger Woods and our own Jeev Milkha Singh, life size characters, adorning their study rooms.
The misconception that golf is a rich man's game does not hold water in Vizag, according to A. V. R. K. Kumar, an avid golfer and past secretary of the club. From a handful of golfers in the 1960s, the club today boasts of having more than 250 members of varying age groups. EPGC also conducts 17 to 19 tournaments in both gold and silver category, the noted among them being the Waltair Club Cup and the Ankitam Cup.
For the City of Destiny, it's indeed another feather in its cap, to have one of the oldest and beautiful golf courses in India that gives us the opportunity to explore and develop virtues such as sportsmanship, honesty, courage, camaraderie and persistence in their true golfing spirits.
SUMIT BHATTACHAREE
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Metro Plus
Bangalore
Chennai
Delhi
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Kochi
Thiruvananthapuram
Visakhapatnam
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