By V. Krishnaswamy, IANS
New Delhi : Indian golf lost one of its finest patrons in Bharat Ram, chairman of the DCM Shri Ram Industries, who passed away here Tuesday night at the age of 93.
A founding member of Delhi Golf Club (DGC) and the Indian Golf Union (IGU), Bharat Ram was a pioneer for professional golf as well.
The professional tournament SRF All India Matchplay, once called the DCM Cup, was launched by Ram nearly three decades ago. Old-timers like Shadi Lal, Rohtas Singh and others took part and the tournament is the longest running domestic professional event in the country.
Ram, affectionately called Lalaji, was a regular golfer at the DGC and used to be on the course every day at the crack of dawn. Weather and health permitting, he would play nine, and sometimes 18 holes, but rarely did he miss the game.
Health problems made him rather infrequent over the last few years, but whenever he could, he would pick up his clubs. And for those who ventured to ask him about golf in the early days, he was a treasure trove of stories.
A patron he was, but he was no mean golfer himself. In the forties and fifties and even the sixties, time and again, he played with the likes of the late Billoo Sethi.
Years ago, while talking of the bygone era, he recalled one of his best golfing moments was with Sethi in a domestic match play event in 1950s. Sethi later went on to win the 1965 Indian Open, the only time India's premier pro event was won by an amateur.
Sethi never turned professional, but Ram, who followed the sport keenly, always felt that the former could have held his own against the best pros in the game in 1960s.
Ram, a founding member of the DGC, revealed once that the club in its early days was large enough for two full 18-hole courses as the land extended to what is now Sunder Nagar, a prime residential area.
The story goes that since the club found it difficult to maintain the entire area, the committee, which included Ram and late Dharam Vira, another great golf patron, gave back part of the land to the government.
Even when he was well into his 80s, Ram was loathe to using a cart during his round of golf. Only when he became very frail did he agree to use the cart. But he could not give up golf.
A champion for the caddie community, he backed new measures and higher remunerations for them and even encouraged a caddies tournament at the DGC.
Till a few years ago, an amateur event, called the 'Bharat Ram Cup' was also a regular feature at the DGC. There was some talk of reviving the event a couple of years back.
Now with Lalaji no longer around, the revival of that event would be an ideal tribute to the man who gave so much to Indian golf.