Hyderabad: Set against the backdrop of picturesque locales, the 18-hole championship course at Boulders Hills Golf & Country Club in Gachibowli is a spectacle to behold. The area is blessed with stunning boulder formations, abundant flora and fauna and natural water bodies.
The now lush green course, which spreads around 237 acres out of the total 530 acres, is an ideal test for all levels of golfers.
Former Test left-arm spinner SL Venkatapathy Raju, an avid golfer, is all excited to see this green top with a difference “It is wonderful to see the visible improvement and feels great to play on this course,’’ said Raju when he met coach Brandon de Souza.
The 17-time India international and former National champion is the Managing Director of Brandon de Souza Management Services that has taken over the management and operations of Boulder Hills Course.
Brandon backed by his son Ishan and a team of dedicated professional managers has worked hard to make this a gorgeous course. “We have natural beauty akin to many of the famous golf clubs in places like Phoenix, Arizona.’’ said the Gurgaon-based golfer.
A lot of refurbishment was done to bring the conditions up-to speed starting with the greens and turf under the watchful eye of India’s well known course management agency RNA (Ranjit Nanda & Associates).
“We also have 60 golf carts with 40 of them GPS enabled. For a first time user, who goes in the cart he can gauge distances and navigate his way around the course. We are the first club to have GPS enabled carts in the country,’’ said de Souza.
The first major task was to address the water requirement for the course. “We created space, cleaned and lined up areas to ensure water is saved. We have made provisions to harvest rainwater even in the smallest catchments.’’
The ace golfer said for city like Hyderabad there should be more golf courses and players. “There are only three civilian member and two service golf courses. It is small when I compare with North India or where I grew up at the Royal Calcutta Golf Course where there are 800 golfers and over 1200 in Kolkata.’’
His immediate priority is to popularize golf in the city. “We are selling membership. There are just over 300 members. We are trying to promote the game in an innovative way, trying to attract the youngsters. The golf culture is slowly creeping in and we are trying to dispel the myth that golf is expensive or an old man’s game.’’
According to de Souza, performance by the two young local lady amateurs Sneha Singh & Shreya Pal in the WGAI professional events a week ago shows there is talent in the city. “If badminton has found its nursery here why not golf. The game is getting younger by the day and with our population, we need to capitalize on our inherent prowess in skill-based sports.”
