 Indian Golf’s first Yes! Man a Deserving Winner
A new star appeared in the Asian Tour firmament. The winner of the first ever EMAAR-MGF Indian Masters is himself an Indian, who shows a masterful control of the short game and in particular a deft touch with the Yes! Carolyne Putter.
S.S.P. Chowrasia picked up a cheque for € 280,561 (£211,612) and has earned a two-year exemption on the European Tour, but his win is something truly momentous at several levels.
Firstly, it has come at a crucial time for the Indian game as a whole. The PGA of India has been a victim of its own success: as players improve, the lure of the more established Tours often proves too much to resist and the Indian game may be facing a talent drain. This kind of victory comes at a perfect time to halt this – or at least call attention to the potential fallout.
Says Arvind Khanna, the President of the Professional Golfers Association of India (PGAI) : “We need to make heroes out of our players through media and other publicity vehicles. That will inspire many more to take up the game and give it a further boost.”
He would practice his putting under candle light.
They don’t come much more heroic than Chowrasia. The 29 year-old was a caddie at Royal Calcutta Golf Club where his father was a greens keeper. The young Chowrasia used to sneak onto the course at night from around the age of 10 to play a few holes under the cover of darkness and teach himself the game. He was so driven that he would practice his putting under candle light.
At the Dehli Golf Club last weekend, he chipped in twice on the 3rd on consecutive days, and among his birdies in the final round was a 15 foot putt on the 11th, but momentously a marathon 40-footer at the 7th. The man they have nicknamed Chipputtsia had announced his arrival!
Yes! Golf launched the Carolyne Putter in the Spring of 2006 – reportedly to very positive feedback from Tour players and club golfers alike. The Carolyne is a face-balanced putter made of 304 stainless steel, featuring a larger head for greater forgiveness on off-centre hits. Available in Standard, Belly and Broom-handle variants, the weighting options are 355g, 400g and 500g respectively.
This is a proud moment for Yes! Golf too. A small company compared to the Wall Street golf brands from whom they stole some elbow room on the world Tours, Yes! has succeeded purely on the merits of its unique C-Groove technology – the precision-milled grooves in the face of the putters that create purer, earlier topspin on the ball than any other putter in the world.
“We don’t retain a massive payroll of staff players to use our putters,” explains Yes! Golf master distributor for the Asia-Pacific Wayne Farrell. “SSP Chowrasia first picked up a Carolyne at the SK telecom in Korea last year from our Tour rep for the region Shane Warde. Apparently even then, he had something special about him around the greens. It’s a genuine pleasure to see him succeed after paying his dues for so long. His life will change immeasurably from now.” |
