Star this Week
Caddies are golfers best buddies. Good caddies say the right things when the chips are down and ease the pressure of golfers. Lugging heavy bags, they walk all over the course, from hole to hole, dripping sweat and taking on the hot sun. A caddies life can be tough but some break out of the shell and make it big as a golfer. Rohtash Singh, Ali Sher were the first caddies in India who turned professional and showed the way to others.
Rags to riches stories have been rarely told in Mysuru golf, but the meteoric rise of city lad K. Harish who started off as a caddie at the JWGC and now being the only professional golfer from the city playing in the PGTI Tour Circuit is one such classic tale. Harish recently taking part in the 2015 PGTI qualifying school-final stage golf tourney held at Eagleton Golf course from Jan. 20 to 23, tied 13th with a four-day aggregate score of 290 (two over course) and qualified for the PGTI tour 2015. He is our ‘Star This Week.’
Harish, 30, used to caddie at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf Course when he was a nine-year-old for a living (1994). He was a very keen student of the game and learnt the finer points during his caddying days at the Jayachamaraja Wadiyar Golf course. His playing talent was spotted by Dr. Sundarraj and Raian Irani in 1997 and they encouraged him by giving him the permission to play in the course free of charge. He trained under the guidance of coach Sudharshan at the JWGC and improved his game. Harish played his first tournament as a Junior in Coimbatore and won a prize in the second tournament.
Harish improved his game by leaps and bounds and with the support from the JWGC club who have been giving him the needed support for playing as well as financially from then till now, has helped him to improve on his game and he has made a mark for himself in the Circuit.
Previously Rahul Ganapathy (former National Amateur Champion and ace professional golfer) and two caddie turned professionals Prabhu and Srikanta were the only others who played from Mysuru in the professional circuit.
Harish is the son of Krishna and Chikkamma who reside in Gowrishankar Nagar, on the foothills of Chamundi Hill. Harish qualified as a professional golfer in 2006 after securing his card from the qualifying school, played 6 tournaments in the 2007 circuit and it was a learning experience for him. He could not continue playing in the professional circuit due to lack of financial support.
In 2013, once again he started playing regularly and made the cut in three tournaments (the PGTI-Eagleburg Open-46th place, Indian Oil Servo Masters at Assam-36th place and PGTI players championships-Noida-37th place). In 2014, he started off well and gave his best performance of his career in the PGTI tour by making the cut in 7 tournaments. He finished 15th in the CG Open 2014 at the Mumbai Presidency golf course and won a cash prize of 1,45,000 which is his best performance in the tour till date. Presently, he stands 128 in the list of earners in the PGTI tour.
Harish intends to play the 2015 professional tour and starts off his campaign with the Golconda Masters 2015 at the Hyderabad Golf Club from Feb. 26 to Mar. 1. He will also play the PGTI Masters in Cochin and the Ahmadabad leg. He intends to train hard and improve on his chipping and approach shots to the green and aims to perform well in the higher level in the days to come and bring laurels to JWGC, his home club and Mysuru.
source: http://www.starofmysore.com / Star of Mysore / Home> Sports News / February 15th, 2015