Uttarakhand Governor Dr KK Paul said that it is important that golf should become the sport of the masses and youth should get attracted towards this sport. He expressed this view while convening a meeting of the Governor’s Golf Club held at Raj Bhawan (Nainital) on Wednesday.
He said that golf had always been a sport of the elite and the rich. Today, interest in the game needs to be evoked among the common people so that talented golfers could be prepared to play at national and international levels.
An inter-school gold tournament should be organised in October in Nainital at the Rajbhawan Golf course. For this, a meeting should be held with the principals of the schools and dates should be decided. A documentary on gold was being made and was in its final stage. This film must be shown to tourists and golf enthusiasts at Rajbhawan Golf Hut to give them detailed information about the sport. All applications received for life membership of Golf Club should be assessed properly on the basis of domicile and certificates of being an original resident of the state. A special campaign should be launched for adding lifetime members to the club. There would be no shortage of funds for promoting golf.
The Governor found that some of the club members were inactive for the last two years. Some were not keeping well. Dr Paul said that at the AGM to be held in October, a proposal should be presented for ensuring that their membership continued. The Governor said the Nainital Golf Course was the most beautiful in the world and more attention needed to be paid to its upkeep and maintenance. It had varying altitudes and thus a light grass cutter should be used. Any activity that would pollute the environment of Raj Bhawan campus and the gold course should not be allowed.
Present at the meeting were Secretary to the Governor Arun Dhaundiyal, ADC Y S Rawat, ADC Major Anuj Rathour, Golf Captain H C Shah, chief security officer Ashok Kumar Tyagi, Comptoller Pramod Chamoli and R S Chauhan.