March Madness Tees it up in Ahmedabad
By Sharvil Parikh - TAEGA Golf Group Ahmedabad. www.taega.org
Golf in Ahmedabad will swing to new heights as the month long ‘Ganesh Housing TAEGA Tournament 2011’ officially starts from 26th February at Gulmohar Greens. TAEGA brings this unique IPL style league competition to golf with all its elements: Four teams with owners, captains, vice captains, amateur players, auctions, trading, strategy sessions and all the other ups and downs!
TAEGA’s mission is to make golf inclusive, bring new people to the game and organize tournaments where beginners can also compete and give something back to the community. As a part of this festival of competitive golf, TAEGA will donate Rs. 21,000 for the cause of Education via local organizations. There are 208 members from cities all over Gujarat. The competition will have 112 players including 7 ladies and 7 juniors including 3 girls and 4 boys. Close to half of the entrants will be in the beginner’s or the high handicap category. Clearly TAEGA is on its way to accomplishing its mission and will hopefully keep raising the bar for themselves.
Col. Bagga, affectionately known as the father of golf course design in India, says that what TAEGA has done for bringing children, youth, ladies and people from all walks of life to golf in Ahmedabad and Gujarat is incredible and their model should be adopted by enthusiasts in other cities in the rest of the country. There can be no better testament to TAEGA’s activities than this.
As a classic example of business growth helping various causes in the community TAEGA is a worthy beneficiary of the Real Estate and Retail boom in the country and has roped in developers and a jewellery retailer as owners of the teams: Manoj Soni of AB Jewels, Maulik Shah of Hanjkunj, Vikram Patel of Popular Estate Management Ltd., and Sandeep Ambalia of Shivam Priory. Each team will have 28 players and a captain. The tournament will have four legs of team competition and will have exciting formats with each leg being different. First three rounds will consist of Fourball (better ball) matches, Foursome (alternate shot) matches and American Fourball which is a better ball with a challenging twist. Rival teams will also be rotated in a round robin style. The last leg will comprise individual Stableford stroke play.
The matches are sure to be nail biting and fickle with every pair and player having a chance to win. Every team has been divided in four handicap category: low, mid, mid-high and finally high. Players will only compete within their category and many pairings will have distinct flavours and mix of juniors partnering with adults and ladies playing with and against men. Within last 3-5 years the game is seeing very capable and confident teenagers and ladies in Gujarat. Some of the young talent is very promising and confident and have a ‘Bring it on, Pal!’ attitude which is very refreshing to see and this type of positive approach can only bring better players and competition to the game of golf in general.
In the end the team with most points will win the tournament giving its players the bragging rights until the next one comes around. This event as a package has everything an amateur sports event needs: Adequate sponsorship, competent players, inclusive participation via age and gender parity, exciting format, possibility of close finishes and fanfare.
Like its American College Basketball cousins going through ‘March Madness’ for years this version adapted to Golf in Ahmedabad promises to be as crazy and as fervent with an IPL flavour!!
