NCR tees off to a new high in golf tourism

NEW DELHI: Heard of golf tourism and how Asian tigers Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore have encashed on it in a big way? The National Capital Region (NCR) promises to be the next big hot spot of this multi-billion dollar business worldwide. And for all the good reasons -- mix of ideal weather, designer golf courses, series of tournaments and a host of back-up and logistical support.
A peep at recent tournaments add to the buzz.Corporate events such as McDowell''s Signature Club Golf, Star News Golf, ESPN Golf, Ernst & Young Invitational Golf and Business Standard World Corporate Golf Tournament have generated a lot of interest. Also in the coming months, one is likely to see lot of action with world number one Vijay Singh participating in BILT Skins, while Asia number one Thongchai Jaidee and Asia number two Jyoti Randhawa are likely to participate in the prestigious Indian Open tournament.
NCR today boasts of five world-class golf courses: Delhi Golf Club (GC) in Delhi, Classic Golf Resort, DLF GC, Golden Greens GC -- all in Gurgaon, and Jaypee Greens GC in Greater Noida. "We have designer courses by big names like Jack Nicklaus, Arnold Palmer and Greg Norman that would make any American metro green with envy," says Rishi Narain, golf gold medalist in the 1982 Asian Games. All these courses have involved investments of at least Rs 100 crore each. Jaypee Greens in fact is the longest course in India and the third longest in Asia.
One of the critical requirements to promote a city as a golf destination is that it should have multiple world-class golf destinations with high-quality ancillary facilities like restaurants, bars, driving range, club houses, and locker rooms.
NCR has just about everything in place. Today, the region boasts of some of the best malls, a big plus for the tourists. The Delhi government too is looking at the developments with enthusiasm. "This is a great value addition to our tourism initiatives," said Ramesh Negi, MD and CEO, Delhi Tourism & Transportation Development Corporation (DTTDC). Negi feels that if all goes well, "in future we can have the possibility of having a golf course on the Yamuna banks also".
The weather is clinching too. "The cool mornings and warm and sunny days from November through March is ideal for golfers. Nowhere else in South-East Asia the weather is as good as this. Golfers love this weather -- dry and cool but sunny winters," says Narain who has played professional tour golf in the USA. All this augurs too well for tourism.
"Corporate spending too is quite encouraging," says a golfer. According to one estimate, expenses on corporate golf sponsorship in a year in NCR would be to the tune of Rs 25 crore. Also, there are few big-ticket events such as Indian Open, Hero Honda Masters and BILT Skins With Vijay Singh, with prize money of Rs 4 crore, Rs 3 crore and Rs 4 crore, respectively.
According to a golf course manager, tourists especially from China, Korea and Japan are already thro-nging the golf courses. "We have been getting queries on the conference rooms, luxury cottages for stay, restaurants, bar, spa, health and fitness centre, swimming pools, etc," says the spo-kesperson of Jaypee Greens.
Many golfing tourists are perhaps also aware that NCR hosted the world number one player Vijay Singh after he occupied the top slot -- an honour that even the likes of Singapore and Hong Kong cannot claim.