A big swing can be expected for Indian golf now since a former Pro, Arvind Khanna is the head of the Professional Golfers Association of India (PGAI). Khanna was so keen to take up the assignment that, it wasn’t at all tough to say ‘‘yes’’, when approached for the job. The PGA president plans major changes which he hopes, will help Indian golf become professional, at par with the European and Japanese circuits. But first, he wants to create better enviornment for the golfers on the Indian PGA. ‘‘We need to see how we can increase the prize money for the players. We have issues regarding the way the tournaments are scheduled where sometimes pros end up travelling across the country. The PGA also needs to look at generating some income for itself as I think it needs to get more involved with the tour.’’ Besides, Khanna wants to take up the issue of training facilities for golf in the country. He says, ‘‘There is a problem with teaching pros and I definitely want to improve the quality of training in the country.’’ According to Khanna, the IPGA has to be driven properly and take up problems that concerns the players. ‘‘I want to see the PGA do a lot more for the players. I know that we are a young tour but you need to look at the way European and PGA Tours take care of their players.’’ To make the game attractive, vis-a-vis the competition with cricket and other sports, Khanna says, he wants to promote golf as a lucrative career option to youngsters. ‘‘I think a lot has been done in the last seven years but a lot remains to be done.’’ One of the tough acts will be to attract more sponsorship. ‘‘Apart from what is being done on a commercial basis, we prefer some arrangement where there could be insurance for the players,’’ said Khanna. Hopefully, Indian golf’s profile will grow with more success at the international level. The Indian tour is bigger than most of the local tours currently in Asia and the potential seems to be enormous. Khanna says it is possible that the Indian tour can become as big as the Asian Tour. ‘‘Our players are performing on the Asian tour and golf is the fastest growing sport in India. It has the potential to be as big as the Asian tour itself.’’
