Date:10/07/2008 URL: http://www.thehindu.com/2008/07/10/stories/2008071058870300.htm

Karnataka - Bangalore

Golf prodigy finds his swing

avi Shankar D.

A documentary on S. Chikkarangappa will be aired on Japanese TV

— Photo: K. Murali Kumar

Chikkarangappa.

BANGALORE: Teenaged golf prodigy S. Chikkarangappa is on his way to becoming a world star. The youngster, from Rangagoadanadoddi village near Bidadi, attracted attention during his stint at the World Junior Golf Tournament in Chukyo Golf Course near Nagoya in Japan.

In fact, a TV journalist from Chukyo travelled all the way to Bangalore to film 14-year-old Chikkarangappa’s roots and his steady progress in the game till now.

Some five years ago, Eagleton’s golf coach Vijay Divecha was struck by the young caddie’s potential. A brief discussion with Chetan Meda, Director of the Eagleton Golf Resort, ensued and Chikkarangappa was taken under the tutelage of Vijay Divecha. A Japanese philanthropist gave Chikkarangappa a golf bag and the young lad’s journey had begun.

Chikka proved to be a quick learner and more importantly was blessed with a huge quantity of natural talent. He picked up titles galore in the sub-junior, junior sections and performed well at the amateur tournaments.

Very soon Chikka was sporting national colours and was bringing laurels to the country as a junior golfer. He now speaks good English and can communicate fluently with others around him.

Last month, he was one of the four members of the Indian Junior team that earned the right to play at the Toyota-sponsored World Junior Golf tournament.

India and Korea had qualified from the Asian zone and was on the start list for the 16-nation tournament. Japan as host country was from the Asian zone.

India finished 10th in the team event and Chikka was by far the best Indian player ending with a score of four under 280 and ranked a tied 12th from a field of 64 golfers.

For Chikka, the sojourn to Nagoya was a very happy one. His Japanese mentor, S. Kato, walked the course with Chikka’s group on the final day. Local TV and print media were fascinated with his meteoric rise and the story that a humble caddie from a low income background could be amongst the top in the world fired them up.

Hiroyuki Hayashi and a cameraman were assigned to travel to Bangalore and do a feature on the rising star. The two visited Chikka’s house near Bidadi, filmed interviews with Chikka’s family and did a shoot that would be aired in Nagoya on July 26.

“My parents were very happy that a TV channel from Japan came to interview me,” Chikka said after the crew had left.