Indian Golf lost a lifelong advocate when Prakash Bhandari passed away in Delhi a few days ago at age 89.
I first encountered Mr Bhandari when he was Honorary Secretary of the Indian Golf Union, back in 1974 when the IGU operated out of an office the size of a coat closet in the Tata Centre in Calcutta. In those days one of the key roles of the IGU was to facilitate the import of scarce golf sets and golf balls and as a junior golfer, I was entitled to be allocated a golf set – hence the interaction. He used to be assisted by PK Bhattacharyya, the paid secretary of the IGU who stayed with the organisation for 40 years – right upto around 2010.
Prakash served as the Honorary (unpaid) Secretary of IGU for at least 20 years and finally as IGU President in 2004-5, around the time that Hero MotoCorp became the title sponsor of the IGU’s Indian Open championship – a relationship that continues to this day. Prakash was also the first ambassador of Indian Golf who travelled to events like The Masters, where he became the first Indian ever to be a referee. He also was asked to serve on the selection panel of an association which named the Elite Golf Courses of the World and he had the good fortune to travel to many of them and also engage with other leading administrators in the world of golf – so he was one of the first Indian golf administrators to have seen first hand, world class courses and tournaments. He was also involved with sending teams to the Asia Pacific Golf Confederation’s Asian Men’s & Women’s Amateur Team Championships (Nomura Cup and Queen Sirikit Cup, respectively) – those were the most important amateur tournaments for India and continue to be.
After retiring from active duty with the IGU, Prakash started the Delhi Golf Society, mainly among like-minded members of the Delhi Golf Club, where he was an active golfer. He conceived the NCR Cup Tournament for amateurs at DGC and initially, I was actively involved in building up the tournament with him to a level of national significance. He understood the need for corporate sponsorship and an infrastructure/ engineering company named Gannon – Dunkerley was NCR Cup title sponsor sourced by Prakash for many years in the early 2000’s. The NCR Cup has grown in stature and now has several editions across the capital – under the aegis of the Delhi Golf Society.
I remember Prakash as being practical and business minded in getting things done. His ideas were not emotional, idealistic or impractical. He was focused, serious, open to innovation and interested in finding solutions when problems arose – no time wasted in finding someone to blame.
As a golfer, his style reminded us of a straight drive in cricket – no surprise considering he played Internationally for India – something which has been well documented. Short backswing and straight and short punchy follow through – consistent and accurate. He played national level amateur tournaments competitively as a 4 handicap for many years and continued his social golf at Delhi Golf Club as long as his health permitted. His practice habit was legendary and he was seen at the DGC driving range and chipping area almost
daily for perhaps 20 years !
His son Vivek, is an exceptionally talented player who played college golf at the prestigious University of Southern California, in Los Angeles and then pro golf for around 15 years with considerable success before switching careers to banking. He’s been a good friend of mine too since his school boy days when he represented Modern School at the International Schools tournament in England.
There are probably only a handful of people in India who have been involved in golf administration in honorary service for 50 years of their lives – Prakash was one of them. His life time of service to Indian golf can never be forgotten or overlooked. This tribute by no means professes to capture the full scope of his involvement in Indian golf but I hope it does provide a glimpse into the man and his character.
