“Incredible India Golf Caddy Training Program”

WGAI in association with Ministry of Tourism launches the historic “Incredible India Golf Caddy Training Program”

·         First ever move by a sports governing body towards creating employment for the underprivileged section of the society

·         DLF Golf & country club to train the India’s first ever batch of Women Golf Assistants

New Delhi, July 16, 2012: The Women’s Golf Association of India (WGAI) and Ministry of Tourism today announcedIndia’s first ever-joint program towards creating employment opportunities for the underprivileged section of the society. The governing body for women’s professional golf in India today announced the launch of the “Incredible India golf caddy Training program” in association with the Ministry of Tourism. The initiative, a part of the Ministry’s “Hunar se Rozgaar” campaign, aims towards skill development for aspiring Golf Assistants.

This program will identify prospective candidates to be trained as golf assistants and the shortlisted candidates will undergo an extensive and detailed training program of six weeks on various aspects of golf. The training module would focus more towards practical learning about the game of golf along with some necessary theoretical classes, to enable quicker and stronger understanding about the sport to the aspiring golf assistants.The primary objective of the program is to create a pool of certified Golf Assistants who can assists national and international golfers during golf tours in India.

"The Ministry of Tourism has a mandate of skill development of youth involved in various sectors of tourism industry with an objective to create employable skills. This is in conformity with the resolution passed by the Heads of Nations of 20 developed countries, recognizing tourism as a vehicle for job creation poverty reduction and economic growth,” said Shri Sanjay Kothari, Special Secretary (Tourism).

He further added, “The Ministry of Tourism is happy to associate with the Caddy training programme for caddies which are the first ever such training programme to be launched in the country by Women’s Golf Association of India. We hope such programmes will be replicated in other parts of the country as well.”

The initiative would work towards enabling the lesser-privileged section of the society, with minimum education and limited skills to become employable as Golf Assistants, thus creating employment opportunities to large number of people across the country, which would open doors to several other roles in the future. The candidates need to have a minimum education till class eight and should be between the age of 18 and 28. The DLF golf club has volunteered to train the women Golf Assistants – a first ever initiative as this would be the first lot of trained women Golf assistants that the country would have.

“We at WGAI are committed towards the development of women’s golf in India and our efforts have been fruitful as women’s golf In India has come of age in the last few years and some extremely talented golfers have been produced,” said Mrs. Kavita Singh, President, Women’s Golf Association of India.

She further added “WGAI has always believed in women empowerment and with this initiative which is the first training of its kind in India we look to benefit the women who want to make a career in golf but don’t have the resources. This is a beginning of a process and I am confident that we will be able to create a huge pool of employable caddies, which will further open other avenues for them.”

The Qutub Golf Club would be training the men who are aspiring to become Golf Assistants. Currently people from Delhi and NCR region are being recruited and gradually the WGAI aims to reach out to the rest of the country with support from other golf courses and associations.

“WGAI has been working for the development of women’s golf in India. In the recent past international interest has increased in Indian Golf and this initiative is aimed towards creating equal opportunities to benefit from this development for everyone from the underprivileged section of the society, along with the women. Everyone who has an eye for the game and are interested in making careers in Golf are welcome to be a part the ‘Incredible India Golf Caddy Training Program’. Our objective is to make these unskilled and less educated people employable and have a respectful career. This initiative will not only provide employment for these people but will also work as a platform to a number of new opportunities. The golf assistants over a period of time can qualify to train youngsters and can also pursue career as professional golfers”, said Mrs. ChampikaSayal, Secretary General, Women’s Golf Association of India. “A Golf Player’s perception level is likely to develop over a period of time based on practical training faster since theory in the game develops as players mature. In our country youngsters who grow in rural or metro areas through community games such as "Pitthoo", "Guli Danda" or "Kanchas" are able to develop their perception levels from a very young age. Perception development at a young age along grooming in Rules of Golf thereafter will bring out the best in youngsters.” she further added.

Mr Aakash Ohri, Head - Golf & Infra, DLF Ltd said, "The DLF Golf & Country Club is proud to be associated with this first-of-it's-kind initiative in the country. As you know, training programs for caddies and their well being has always been on top of our agenda over the years. Taking our initiatives further, we will be the first club in the country to employ women's caddies. I would like to congratulate the Ministry of Tourism, Govt of India and the Women's Golf Association of India for their efforts and pledge any support that we can give towards success of the Incredible India Golf Caddy Training Program."

In the recent few years Women’s golf has created a niche for itself and acceptance of the sport is growing by the day. There has been a tremendous growth in the standard of play, with players like Sharmila Nicollet and Smriti Mehra performing well at the global stage and also young talents like Nalini Singh and Neha Tripathi coming up strongly. With growing support from corporates to the sport there has been a steady increase in the prize money for the domestic tour as well.

Globally there is steep rise in sports tourism and golf has had an integral role to play in this with major golf events taking place in India attracting global audiences, Ministry of Tourism has identified golf as a niche tourism product and has been proactively promoting tourism through Golf.  A large number of golf courses that match international standards have come up and this has propelled the participation of the youth, which has led to increased level of interest in the game and domestic tourism has been given a boost.