Edited excerpts:
Q: What is the biggest opportunity for Infrastructure that golf can boost?
A: One golf course brings about $1 billion to the economy. Governments need to see the economic potential instead of only building parks and green spaces, they could develop golf courses that serve the same purpose while sustaining themselves financially. Our proposed model- government provides the land, and private players, societies or developers build and run the facility, with city master plans built around this from the start. Even at 10 new courses a year for 30 years, India would still need more.
Q: What kind of golf infrastructure does India need most?
A: More courses at every level. Only a handful of our existing courses can not host major international tournaments, so we need more high-quality venues but also affordable, public-access courses. The armed forces own many of India’s golf courses, but public access is often limited, and that is a gap we need to address.
Q: What PGTI is playing to improve the golf infrastructure in the country?A: We have a strong board — Kapil Dev is our President, and members and advisors include Kiran Nadar, Shantanu Narayen, Nikesh Arora and other senior leaders. PGTI itself is a not-for-profit society of professional golfers; whatever money we generate goes back into player welfare – prize money, travel, hotels, facilities and more. We are also a Section 12AA organisation, which lets us receive CSR support. Our players represent India at the Asian Games and Olympics, so we are building a larger sporting ecosystem.
Q: How does PGTI’s role differ from the amateur golf federation?
A: Think of it like cricket – the BCCI runs the professional game, while other bodies handle grassroots and amateur development. In golf, the amateur federation nurtures talent from childhood; our job starts once a golfer turns professional, and it is to build them a livelihood. We currently run about 35 tournament weeks a year, with a minimum purse of roughly Rs 1 crore per event around Rs 35 crore in total prize money. Weare constantly working to grow that, because bigger prize money makes professional golf a more attractive career.
Q: How has the tour grown recently?
A: Significantly. Prize money went from about Rs 23 crore to Rs 35 crore last year, nearly a 50% jump. Our top five players each earned more than Rs 1 crore, and the leading player took home around Rs 2 crore. That matters because when parents see a 16-year-old potentially earning ?40 – 50 lakh in a year, they start viewing golf differently as a career.
Q: How do you see India’s potential as a golf market?
A: We are far behind where we should be. India needs another 300 – 400 golf courses over the next 10 – 20 years if we are serious about becoming a developed economy by 2047, no developed nation lacks a strong golf presence. The US has about 20,000 courses; India has a fraction of that. Without access to courses, you cannot build a golfing population.
Q: Does PGTI engage with governments on this?
A: Yes, we meet Chief Ministers, senior bureaucrats and officials across states with a simple message – golf is not just a sport, it is an economic development opportunity. Golf courses should be built into city master plans from day one. They provide green space, improve the surrounding environment, and can significantly boost real estate values.
Q: You have called golf an “investment magnet”, can you explain?
A: Developers often built golf courses in India just to help sell apartments, without realising how much they would lift surrounding real estate values DLF is a great example; residential and commercial development naturally follows a golf course. Globally, golf courses have anchored entire communities. I tell governments that if you want Japanese, Korean, European or American companies to invest in your city, you need the lifestyle infrastructure they expect, foreign universities scouting Indian campuses have even asked about golf facilities first.
Q: Why do you describe golf as more than a sport?
A: I call it a lifestyle. In a world where people are glued to phones and screens, golf gives you four uninterrupted hours with another person – no phones, just conversation about business, family, life. You cannot get that over coffee in an office. That is what makes it such a powerful networking platform – a CEO can meet another CEO in a neutral setting, and people from business, government and media come together naturally.
Q: What about golf and health?
A: After 40 or 50, many people cannot keep up with physically demanding sports like badminton or tennis. Golf is different,you can play into your 70s, 80s, even 90s. My mother is 89 and still plays three times a week. It is also a family sport that bridges generations – grandfather, father and grandson can play together.
Q: Golf is often seen as elite or expensive. Is that changing?
A: It needs to. In many places you can play for Rs 400 – 500 – the “elite” perception exists mainly because access has historically been limited. Look at Mercedes: once purely aspirational in India, now common globally and even used as taxis elsewhere. Golf can follow the same path – aspirational today, closer to a necessity tomorrow because of its lifestyle, health and networking value. We should not treat “aspirational” as a negative word.
Q: What is the biggest barrier to golf’s growth in India?
A: Infrastructure. Governments need to see the economic potential instead of only building parks and green spaces, they could develop golf courses that serve the same purpose while sustaining themselves financially. Our proposed model: government provides the land, and private players, societies or developers build and run the facility, with city master plans built around this from the start. Even at 10 new courses a year for 30 years, India would still need more.
Q: Tell us about the 72 Golf League you launched.
A: We launched it this year, and it ran for about three weeks. We wanted something distinct, since every sport was launching similarly named leagues – “72” naturally connects to the 72 holes of a standard professional tournament. It also let us take professional golf to new markets, with teams representing cities like Jaipur, Kolkata, Mumbai and Raipur. Raipur was especially interesting and not a traditional golfing city, but we’d already held a tournament there and worked with the local government to build a team, showcasing an emerging city through golf.
Q: What are the major upcoming tournaments?
A:The Kapil Dev Invitational in late September, one of our prestige events, followed by our biggest tournament – the DP World India Championship, with a $4 million (roughly Rs 40 crore) prize purse. We are expecting around seven of the world’s top 20 golfers to play a huge opportunity for Indian golf.
Q: How does qualification for the DP World India Championship work?
A: We shifted our tour calendar to run through October (previously January–December) to align with the event. The top 60 players by prize money qualify for the Kapil Dev Invitational, and the top 24 from there advance to the DP World India Championship. We are also introducing a Player of the Year trophy as part of this structure.
Q: How is women’s golf developing?
A: Very well, our women golfers are performing exceptionally strongly. Players like Diksha Dagar and Aditi Ashok have shown what is achievable internationally, and I believe India can produce even more world-class women golfers.
Q: What is your one recommendation for state governments?
A: Plan golf courses into new cities from the start – don’t wait until everything else is built to ask where the course should go. Allocate land in the master plan alongside parks and green spaces. Assam, for example, already has a natural golf culture through its tea estates and could develop 10 – 20 courses as part of its tourism and economic strategy.
Q: Can golf become a tourism driver for India?
A: Absolutely. People travel specifically to play golf in places like South Africa, Scotland, England and the US. India has huge potential given its varied, beautiful landscapes — Kashmir, Assam, the Northeast, Chandigarh and more could all become golfing destinations, bringing in visitors, investment and employment. India also has a large pool of talented caddies who can build careers around the sport.
Q: What needs to change most — infrastructure or perception?
A: Infrastructure will change perception. People call golf elitist because they lack access to it , give them access, and the perception shifts. Aspiration is not a bad thing: people aspire to fly business class or own good cars, so why not aspire to play golf? It needs to become aspirational and accessible at the same time.