Being one of the oldest sports in India, Golf has passed a long way so far. The game of Golf was incepted in India during the first half of the nineteenth century and it got its first organisation in the name of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) in 1829. Since then, India has produced numerous talented and top class Golfers, who have shown great performances in the international arena. The Indian Golf players have been on the top of the Asian Order of Merit and also in the World ranking in several occasions.
The Indian Golf players are nurtured and trained in numerous Golf clubs situated all over India and they clubs provide them with all kinds of necessary facilities. As, the Golf accessories are still not that much available in India, the clubs sometimes lack in this section. In most of the clubs, the Golfers are requested to bring their own Golf accessories to play. The Indian Golf players also take part in several Golf tournaments both in India and outside. They take part in the Asian PGA Tour events and also in the European PGA Tour events.
Some of the Indian Golf players have earned a lot of recognition and reputation worldwide and have also won several trophies in various prestigious tournaments. Among all the Indian Golf players, some of the most important are Jeev Milkha Sing, Arjun Atwal, Shiv Chowrasia, Gaurav Ghei, Shiv Kapur, Laxman Singh, Smriti Mehra, Jyoti Randhawa, Ali Sher, P. G. Sethi, etc. Ali Sher was the first Indian Golfer to shine in the international events. He gave a stunning performance and won the Indian Open in 1991 and that paved the way for the other Indian Golf players to become a force to reckon with in the Asian golf circuit.
After Ali Sher, another legendary Indian Golfer Jeev Milkha Singh made his presence felt, when the Asian PGA Tour was launched in 1995. He along with Gaurav Ghei made an instant impact by putting up some fine performances in various tournaments. Jeev was remarkably consistent to perform well in the Golf tournaments and his consistency earned him the third position in the Asian Order of Merit. On the other hand, Ghei played extraordinarily and clinched one of the four majors on the Asian PGA Tour, the US $500,000 Gadgil Western Masters. Jeev continued playing wonderfully and later, he became the first Indian to qualify for the top-grade European PGA Tour.
Apart from Ali Sher, Jeev Milkha Singh or Gaurav Ghei, the other Indian Golf players like Arjun Atwal has also gained entry into the EPGA, in the recent years. He also raised the bar by becoming the first Indian to win a European Tour Order of Merit event. The other Indian Golfers like Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Kapur etc have also been playing extremely well for the past few years. In fact, the Indian golfers have swept virtually every reputed tournament played in the Indian soil, since 1998 and it is definitely a feat that underscores the depth of talent in the country.
