THE MONTHLY GAZETTE

August 2017

Noida Golf CourseWith Compliments from SmallWorld Digital Services

more achievers in this sport in our midst. We promise to find them and report in our forthcoming issues. Our special kudos to Shri Gangesh Khaitan for winning the senior category. Shri Gagan Verma was the winner in the mid category and Shri Simarjit Singh was the Runner Up in the mid category. Shri Vijay Kumar Bhadana achieved the third place in the senior category. These are all admirable members of our club who have made NGC ever so proud. Our heartiest congratulations to them once again and we wish them continued success in future.Lastly, I invite all our members to participate in E-news. We welcome members to be a reporter for E-news. Entries will be consid-ered by team edit and carried in forthcom-ing issues. Your participation will make it an informative and lively port that we are all hungering for. I am sure with your continued support and the vision of our Board Pres-ident, E-news will continue to enrich mem-ber experience at NGC.

Members are requested to send in their con-tributions, articles and write- up at:

url to access email id:http://noidagolfcourse.com/webmail

user id :editornewsletter@noidagolfcourse.com

Editorial Team:Shri PS Sharda, Brig Suresh Bali (Retd) Shri Amit Dube and Col Tejindar Singh

EDITORIAL

Well begun is half done. E-news will stay! It gives me immense pleasure to share that the July 2017 issue of the E-News Letter launched as en-visaged, on July 6 succeeded in kin-dling interest among members. Members

have responded and taken interest. The launch kindled memories of yore. In its dig-ital format the focus is on making it an in-teractive port. Envisaged as a lively port for members’ interaction I am sure in coming months this will form a part of our daily net. We will strive to make it more conveniently accessible on net. Monsoon is all over us. The weather has been extreme from pleasant and cool to humid and hot. Golfing has remained unaf-fected by weather extremes. The Course play has been as frequent as usual. Diehard golfers have continued to throng the Course to score birdies and hole- in-one. Brig PN Malhotra (Retd) scored his fifth Hole-in- one on 18 July 2017 during his membership in NGC. Wonder if that’s not already a record of sorts. I am glad to share about the sporting achievers among our member fraternity. Our members excelled and made laudable achievement at the All India Amateur Golf Championship 2017 played in July at Banga-lore. This is a national level event by IGU. It is also a basis for selection of the national team. Some members earned a place in Indian Team. I am sure there must be many

Commodore VK Thakur,VSM (Retd) Editor

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SeniorAmateur Golf

Championship ofIndia 2017

This national level tournament was introduced in 1971 and being played once in a year for the national title amongst senior golfers in the age of 55 + The event is organised and run by Indian Golf Union the controlling body of golf in India. This event apart from deciding on the National Champion also is the base for selection of the team for International tournaments, like Asia Pa-cific Golf Championship held in different coun-tries by rotation. In the past 5 years this APGC has been held in Australia, Vietnam, Hong Kong, China and Philippines. This year this tournament is being played in Australia.

This year the tournament was also to select the Indian team in the age group of 50 + to play against South Africa at Johannesburg in August.

Golfers from all over the country participated in this event. We had players from Rajasthan, Delhi, Haryana, Manipur, Deh radun, Karnataka, Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra, West Bengal, Chandigarh, Tamil Nadu, and Qatar.

The tournament was won by Gangesh Khaitan a member of our club, who played very well with scores of 77, 76 and 81to beat Rishi Narayan by 8 strokes with scores of 81,84 and 77 The event was played over 3 rounds at Prestige Golfshire in Bangaluru in the last week of June. There were a total of 43 participants with 4 ex National Cham-pions and 4 ex Nation senior Champions.For the team to South Africa Gangesh Khaitan finished ahead of David De’souza by 2 strokes and the other members selected to play in South Africa in the age group of 50 + were Rishi Narayan and Anil Jule. Unfortunately Gangesh in the last moment withdrew from the team due to

some unforeseen reasons and Vijay Kumar Bha-dana another member of our club and two times national senior champion has been selected to replace him.

Along with this senior Championship Mid Am-ateur Golf Championship was also held in the age group of 35+ to 54. This was won by Ga-gan Verma with excellent rounds of 77, 73, 73 and 70. He was the only player to have played under par round in the entire tournament. He beat Simmarjit Singh our member by 4 strokes. Both Gagan and Simmarjit are members of our club. Other members of the team selected for the South Africa team are H S Kang and Sanjay Lakra for the age group of 35+.

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Holein One

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It is universal, every golfer craves to achieve a Hole-in-One in golf. The achieve-ment is the truly rarest of the rare. No matter how hard one tries, it happens only through some good luck and may be its a good acci-dent. 

Members who have achieved a Hole-in-One in NGC in the last six months are list-ed below: Our heartiest congratulations to each one of them and we wish them many more 

It's History

One of our NGC Members, Shri    P.K.   Soni Mem. No. 2415   had the occasion to play golf at the  Royal & Ancient Golf Club of St Andrews in Scotland,  more than a decade ago.He was a esteemed guest of his friend. Mr Soni created history by achieving  Two Holes-in-One in a single round of 18 Holes. What an achievement ! A life time dream! And please note the magnanimity and gracefulness of the St Andrews Golf Club. They gave Mr Soni the Life Membership of the Club. 

What an outstanding distinction and honour to possess. Our heartiest congratulations to Mr Soni, though belated !!! 

(a) 11 Jan 2017 Brig AK Bhatia (Retd) Mem. No. 1999 Hole No 3(b) 31 Mar 2017 Shri Roshan Sahay Mem No. 5470 Hole No 5(c) 20 May 2017 Brig VK Manchanda (Retd) Mem .No. 3639 Hole No 5(d) 30 May 2017 Mrs Rashmi Singh Mem No. 2326 Hole No 16(e) 24 Jun 2017 Col Surjit Singh (Retd) Mem. No. 0714 Hole No 5(f ) 18 Jul 2017 Brig Malhotra (Retd) Mem No. 1988 Hole No 5        

ReciprocalGolfArrangements.

NGC is proud to announce that it has Reciprocal golf arrangements with some of the best Golf Clubs in India. Conversely, they have such arrangements with NGC because they find NGC is amongst the best Golf Courses in the country. Needless to add that members of other Clubs who visit and play a round on our Course are full of praises for the Greens, fairways, the layout etc of our Course. We do have members of outstation Clubs visiting NGC occasionally, but those from the NCR Clubs are on an average 2-3 every day (Weekdays)Llist of Golf Clubs with who we have reciprocal arrangement are as under:

(a) Bangalore Karnataka Golf Association(b) Belgaum Belgaum Golf Association

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(c) Chandigarh Chandigarh Golf Club(d) New Delhi Air Force Sports Complex (Golf Club)(e) Delhi Cant. Army Golf Course(f ) Hindan Air Force Sports Complex (Golf Club)(g) Panchkula Panchkula Golf Club(h) Jaipur Rambagh Golf Club(i) Kolkata Tollygunge Club Ltd(j) Lucknow Lucknow Golf Club(k) Mumbai Bombay Presidency Golf Club(l) Ooty Ootacamund Gymkhana Club.(m) Pune Poona Golf Club(n) Shillong The Shillong Club Ltd(o) Vadodara EME School Golf Club.

Please note: In some Clubs certain terms and conditions apply. Details available with Secretary NGC. Those of our members desirous to utilizing golf reciprocal arrangement with other Clubs are requested to contact the Secretary / General Manager NGC, and obtain a Card / Letter which will enable them to meet the purpose. 

Starters

We have a band of able and responsi-ble Starters. Each one of them has acquitted their duties  efficiently and effectively. All the

four above mentioned Starters have been in service in NGC for over two decades They have been found to be polite and  courte-ous, yet firm in the performance of their responsibilities. 

As we all know, the Starter is respon-sible for efficient management of arranging Tee Off of all golfers as per Local Rules in the Club He is to arrange players in prop-

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Kishan Pal, Shiv Dutt, Kaushik & Sandeep

The Back Bone of the Course.

Jairam & Mukesh

er starting order as per bookings and assign appropriate tees. He is to supply players with score cards, pencils and rules of play Starter is to ensure proper opening and closing hours of the Course. He provides all information regarding the Course, play time and acts as the centre for all information on Local Rules etc. It is his duty ensure the dress regulations of the players, check Green Fee vouchers of guests and also the discipline of the Caddies on Course. 

We are proud to note that all NGC Starters have never been found wanting in any of their responsibilities. We would like to compliment them all for their performance.

Each one of them has acquitted their du-ties  efficiently and effectively. Both Mukesh and Jairam have been in service in NGC for over two decades Both have immense expe-rience in various duties like the Starter and Caddy Master, also. They have been found to be polite and courteous, yet firm in the performance of their responsibilities.  The Course Marshal is responsible to ensure pace of play and when requested by

The Able Course Marshals in NGC.

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him the group must comply with his direc-tions. This is in interest of pace of play to avoid hold up of play on Course. The deci-sion of the Marshal is final and players must cooperate always. Marshal is to ensure repair of davits, raking of bunkers by caddies / players. He is to ensure that no damage takes place on Course. 

All and all, the Marshal is responsible for Course discipline both by players and the caddies. 

We thank all our golfers for their co-operation and understanding to have made golf more interesting in NGC.

Has great professional knowledge in maintenance of the golf course. An effective leader of ground staff.

Sunil Jha. The Course Supervisor

Golf Junior TrainingProgramme 

The Role of a Sports Parent

It is well experienced that seventy five percent of all young golfers drop out of golf by the time they are 13. Why? Because golf is no longer fun for them. Playing and competing no longer brings them satisfaction or happiness. Parents and coaches, have the power to determine whether your child will drop out of golf or stay with it. Parents and coaches, have the ability to build your child's confidence, ensure he or she feels successful and has fun. These are 5 common characteristics that can undermine a child's experience. Most golf parents experience some of these thoughts or feelings sometime during their child's golf career.

(1) You Live At Times Through Your Child.(2) You Evaluate Your Child's Success Or Fail ure Based on his or Her performance, Not His Or Her Happiness.(3) You're Over Critical of Your Child's Performance (4) You Over Coach Your Child On The Sideline(5) Your Child Is Parent-Motivated,Not Self-Motivated.

This is good useful information for all parents of child golfers.

By : Amit DubeGolf Pro

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Some historians believe that golf originated in the Netherlands(the Dutch word kolf means club),but the Romans had a game played with a bent stick and a ball made out of feathers that may have been the original source of the game. In any event, it has been fairly well es-tablished that the game of golf actually was devised by the Scots in the 14th and 15th cen-tury. The game became so popular in Scot-land that in order to keep people from playing golf and football during the time that should have been employed in practicing archery, a military  necessity, the Scottish Parliament in 1457 passed a law prohibiting both games. The Scottish people, however, largely ignored this and similar laws and early in the 16th cen-tury James IV, King of Scotland, took up the game of golf. His granddaughter Mary, later Mary, queen of the Scots, took the game to France, where she was educated. The young men who attended her on the golf links were known as cadets, "pupils"; the term was ad-opted later in Scotland and England becom-ing caddy or caddie. In England the game was made popular by the attention given by James VI of Scotland, later James I of England, and his son Charles I.

By: Amit DubeGolf Pro

TheHistory of Golf

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Club Distance Chart

Club Beg. Ave. Pro.

Woods (Distance shown in yards)

1 170+ 220+ 250+3 160-170 200-220 220-2405 150-160 180-200 200-220

Irons

2 160-170 200-220 225-2403 150-160 190-200 215-2254 140-150 175-190 200-2155 125-140 165-175 185-2006 115-125 155-165 170-1857 105-115 145-155 155-1708 90-105 135-145 145-1559 80-90 125-135 135-145P-W 60-80 100-125 115-135S-W 40-60 80-100 90-115

On The Tee!

Plan ahead! (You may not need a driv-er.)

Plan your first shot to et you up for the best second shot. If you want a 100 yard shot to the green you may need only a 3 wood from the tee. On a par 5 a 3 wood and tow 7 irons may be the safest route.

Picture the shape of your shot

(fade or draw, hook or slice) and pick a target. Plan to hit away from trouble, the normal shape of your shot will keep you safe.

Always use a tee

To tee off regardless of the club se-lected.

Set your tee

in the ground within the markers but set-up your alignment based on your target. Sometimes the hole layout or tee markers can lead you to aim into trouble.

Tee to GreenHow to Save Strokes & Get Out Of Trouble

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Playing In the Wind

Into the wind- knock down shot

• Set-up with ball back in stance• Use a less lofted club(ex. Use a 5 or 6 instead of a 7)• Allow for little or no roll• Use a relaxed ¾ swing• Limit your weight shift with more weight on the left foot.

Wind from behind:

• Set up with ball in normal stance• Use your normal swing• Use a more lofted club• Allow for more roll• To gain extra distance place the ball slightly ahead in your stance and slightly open the clubface.

Sidewinds:

• Use your normal stance• Use your normal swing• Aim to the side the wind is coming from and let the wind move the ball• Use a knock down shot(see above) to lessen the impact of the wind.

Sand Shots

From a good lie:

• Open your stance, aim slightly left• Open the clubface• Place ball off of left heel in stance• Use a steeper than normal swing• Hit the sand 2 inches behind ball (resist the urge to dig for the ball)• Follow through the swing.

From a buried lie:

• Normal stance• Slightly closed clubface• Place ball in middle of your stance.• Use a steeper than normal swing• Hit 1 inch behind the ball• Use little follow through• Allow for extra roll

Clubface guidelines:

• Closed clubface for buried lies• Square clubface for hard/wet sand• Open clubface for soft sand

On The Green!

Reading the green

• Study the overall slope of the green.• Which way is the grass leaning? (a putt rolling with the grain will be faster that a putt against the grain).• Plan your putt while others are playing.• Over-read on the uphill side (a ball that falls below the hole has no chance at going in). • Once you line up the putt focus on distance (never up-never in)

Hitting your putt.

• Keep your head and body still with your eyes over the ball.• Accelerate and follow through at im pact whatever the distance.• On your practice swings think only of distance and a smooth swing.

Chip Shots

Pitching-less than 50 yards

• Use a pitching wedge or sand wedge• Open stance/feet close together• Place ball back in your stance• Limit sway with weight on left • Use a ¾(or shorter) swing• Think of hitting down on the ball (don’t try to lift or scoop the ball)

Chip Shot-just off the green

• Use a club (5-9 iron)to land on the front of the green and roll to the hole• Open stance/feet close together• Place ball back in your stance• Hands are slightly ahead of the ball• Limit sway with weight on left• Use a short backswing with arms close to the body (use a putting stroke if you are close enough)

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Getting out of Trouble!

Over a tree:

• Choose one club more (ex. 7 instead of 8)• Place ball forward in the stance• Open your stance and clubface• Keep hands behind the ball

Under a tree:

• Choose a less lofted clube• Place ball back in your stance• Close your stance and clubface• Keep weight on left foot• Choke down on club• Use a short/low follow through

Out of the rough:

• Choose a more lofted club (ex. 7 instead of6)• Place ball in middle of stance• Open your stance and clubface• Aim slightly left of target• Keep weight more on left• Use a steeper swing.

Uphill, Downhill & Side hill Shots

Uphill Lie:

• Select a less lofted club(the uphill lie adds loft)• Choke down on the club• Place the ball forward in your stance• Match the plane of your shoulders to the angle of the hill• More flex in the left leg• Limit the backswing and sway• Aim slightly right of the target

Downhill Lie:

• Select a more lofted club(the downhill lie decreases loft)• Place the ball back in your stance• Match the plane of your shoulders to the angle of the hill• More flex in the right leg• Limit the backswing and sway• Aim slightly left of the target.

Side hill- ball is below your feet(this shot will naturally move left to right)

• Select a less lofted club(to use with a ¾ swing)• Aim slightly left of the target• Close the clubface slightly • More flex in both legs• Weight is more on the heels• Use a ¾ backswing.• Limit sway and swing smooth

Side hill- ball is below your feet(This shot will naturally move right to left)

• Select a less lofted club(to use with a ¾ swing)• Aim slightly right of the target• Open the clubface slightly• Weight is more on the toes• Choke down on the club• Place the ball back in the stance• Use a ¾ backswing• Limit sway and swing smooth.

GOLF UN-DER BULLETS SHADOW:

1984

Panther Golf Club was located in the Can-tonment of Amritsar. It is a beautiful 18 Hole course surrounded by Army units on three sides, eucalyptus tree line and swimming pool close by. In April 1984, Panther Golf Club decided to or-ganize OCM Open Golf Tournament. Invitations to all golf clubs in North India were sent but the response from all clubs was very poor. Every one cited the ‘law and order’ situation in Amritsar, the problem. It was 1984 and Punjab was experiencing active terrorism activities led by Sant Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale. Army was on alert all the time to meet any serious untoward incident in Amritsar, Gurdaspur area of North Punjab. Police was doing a good job in trying to contain violence and maintain fragile peace. Panther Golf Club decided to take offensive and invite professional golfers from various parts of India, especially Delhi to make the of OCM tournament a success. On personal request, top professionals of the 1980s, Randhawa brothers, Bamby and Bunty, confirmed their participation. We approached the Secretary Delhi Golf Club for sending a team for the Tournament. The Secretary DGC Commodoer SK Chatterjee (Retd) assured us that he will be able to motivate about 12 Pros to participate in the Tournament. Sure enough about 16 young professionals of varying handi-caps from zero to ten were escorted to Amrit-sar by train by our men. They were lodged within the Cantonment and provided food for the dura-tion of the Tournament. To entertain them, free cinema tickets to the Panther (Defence) Cinema were provided and round the clock VCR showing latest movies was installed. The 72 hole Tourna-ment, recognized by the IGU, was fought closely and played in competitive spirit. The OCM Trophy was won by Inder Pal and Om Prakash was the runner up, both from Delhi Golf Club. I remember participation of Mr Ali Sher (he later won ‘India Open’ at Delhi twice in the 90s) who played to 7 handicap. In the last week of May 84, the Inter-Ser-vices Golf Championship was also organized at the Panther Golf Club. The Championship com-menced on 28 May 84 with teams from five Army Commands, IAF and Navy participated. Among

the participants were AVM KK Sangar, Col Kewal Ramani and myself, all now members of NGC. Naik K Gopal and Major CV Pratap were tied at two under, after 72 holes. Naik Gopal emerged winner on the second sudden death hole, leav-ing CV Pratap the runner up. Western Command Team won the championship under manager Maj Gen GPS Bindra, now a senior golfer at NGC to-day. The Tournament concluded at about 1230 hours on 31 May 84, and participants were herd-ed, literally, to the prize distribution venue. The prizes were distributed by 1400 hours and all par-ticipants were, post haste, dispatched south of Beas River by 1700 hours in Army vehicles. The event reminded me of the poem by Sir Charles Wolfe describing the ‘burial of Sir John Moore’ in Spain during the Napoleon era.Slowly and sadly we laid him down, From the field of his fame fresh and gory;We carved not a line, and we raised not a stone, But we left him alone with his glory. The area North of Beas River was placed under curfew and Amritsar area was quarantined from the world, physically and electronically, the same afternoon. Army had been requisitioned for operation Blue Star. Rest is tragic, but part of his-tory.

ByCol Tejindar Singh (Retd)

NGC Member ( 2436)

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The Golf Bag Store Room is Heaving !

Like all reputable Golf Clubs in India, NGC also has provision of a large size Golf bag store room. Presently, approx 600 members have availed the space to keep their golf bags inside. They draw out the bags on as required basis and on completion of the game they store the bags back. There is a nominal subscription charge of Rs 50 per member per month, to avail the space in the Store Room. Surely and agreeably, this small charge of Rs 50 a month is pittance, in present time. NGC has plans to revise this amount up-wards. So, we’ll learn about this in due course.

It is disappointing to note that we have ap-prox 400 other members of the Club who are on the “Wait List” to find a place in this Golf Bag Store Room. Due to paucity of space the situa-tion is getting bad. While efforts are on to identify some other suitable room for the purpose, it is not easy.

It is also disappointing to learn that there are many members who have kept their golf bags in the Golf Bag Room and have stopped playing golf and there are some others who play golf most infrequently. NGC has plans to request these members to kindly vacate the space and make way for those on the wait list.

ByGolf Captain

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FROM THE LADY GOLF CAPTAIN’S DESK

The Ladies Section is growing every day. This month four new members were inducted. Activities in this hot and humid weather were minimal, with the Monthly Medal Round. The Winner was Ms. Sunita Dutt and Runner up Mrs. Renu JP Singh. Congratulations to both….. “Saavan aaya Jhoom ke” The onset of the lush green month with lots of rain saw an excitement. The Teej was celebrated enthusiastically by the Ladies, on the 25 th of July at the Cof-fee Morning. Each and every Lady was dressed up most beautifully in ethnic wear and green was the theme of the day. Aashna Monga was crowned the ‘Saavan Queen’ wom-en crooned the saavan songs impromptu , played a round of Tambola and enjoyed the chatpata chaat followed by the befitting takeaways of sweet ghevar and Rainbow coloured Bangles. I am sure the golfing and non golfing members must have had a great Morning.

By: Lady Golf Captain