The Indian Golf Union is the National Sports Federation duly recognised by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (MYA&S) and the Governing body of Golf in the country and is responsible for the promotion and development of the game of Golf in India. Starting with only six golf clubs at the beginning, IGU now has 231 golf clubs as its members. Some senior golfers in Calcutta took the initiative and with the support of golfers in Delhi, Mumbai and Madras formed the IGU on 20 December 1955. The objective for which the Union was established were mainly to promote the game of golf in India and the maintenance in every way possible of high standards of the game. Until then and for many years since the inception in 1829 of the second oldest golf course in the world outside of UK, Royal Calcutta Golf club was virtually managing the affairs of golf in India. RCGC instituted and started which became a prestigious Trophy “All India” in 1892 and the East India there after. Senior members of RCGC realized that for the growth of Indian Golf, more tournaments in all the main centers were needed apart from developing junior programs and sending teams abroad for the International Events. In spite of the permanency, which the club enjoyed, it agreed to the foundation of the Union and to the handing over of whatever powers it might have yielded until then, including the privilege of conducting the Amateur Golf Championship of India which had been inaugurated by the club and also donated the trophy. Mr AD Vickers was the first President of the IGU who worked untiringly to bring the Union into being and who was mainly responsible for the preparation of the Rules and regulations of the IGU. Major LB Hirst, who was the Secretary of the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, became the first Secretary of IGU. In 1957 it was agreed to appoint an Honorary Secretary and Mr PR Surita became the first Honorary Secretary of IGU. In 1957 a training scheme for Assistant Professional and Caddies form all over the country under George Willard, the then Pro at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club was instituted and the trainees were given a thorough grounding in teaching golf and in the art of club making and repairs. Another significant move was the inauguration of Inter Zonal championship for which a trophy was instituted by the legendary golfer of India Mr IS Malik. In 1958 was another significant move when the All India Amateur championship was held at Delhi Golf club for the first time out side of Calcutta where it was held from 1892. India started participating in the World Amateur Team Championship (Eisenhower Cup) from its inception in 1958 and has continued till date. Similarly India also started participating at the Nomura cup, Asia Pacific Golf Championship, Queen Sirikit Cup from its inception and continues till date. Golf was introduced in the Asian Games in 1982 and India won 2 Gold medals and 1 Silver medal in the inaugural year and repeated the feat again in 2002 Asian Games held in Korea by winning 1 Gold medal in Individual category and in 2006 and 2010 won the Team Silver medal. The IGU holds 40 - 42 National categorized tournaments every year in the Gentlemen Amateur, Ladies and Junior Girls and Junior Boys category. In addition to these tournaments, IGU also conducts Sub Junior & Zonal Feeder Tour events in all four zones of the Country. IGU started the Indian Professional circuit in 1975 and managed it till 1996 when IGU asked Mr. Lal(Bandy Lal), a former IGU Council member and Chairman of IGU Selection Committee, to form the PGAI. The IGU is the owner of Indian Open Golf Championship and currently is one of the most prestigious events on the European tour. The event was introduced in 1964 and is held annually ever since. Most of the leading professionals from Europe, USA and the Asia Pacific region participate in this coveted event. The Indian Open today is a US 1.75 million dollar event. The game of Golf in India has been spiralling at rapid pace and is perhaps one of most popular games after Cricket and Tennis amongst the youngsters. IGU has introduced number of initiatives for promotion of game of golf and also to upgrade the standard of the game to the best in the world. Towards this effort, a coaching programme under the aegis of R&A the governing body of golf in the world was started in 2005 to train the teaching professionals and to classify them. As of now we have classified over 400 teaching professionals including some from our neighbouring SAARC countries. The National Golf Academy of India (NGAI) was formally inaugurated on 26 Nov 2008 at the Chandigarh Golf Association Range in Chandigarh
IGU regularly conducts Coaching Programs both at the grass root and elite level in all 4 zones of the Country. IGU reintroduced the Golf Rules Referee Certification program in 2011 and is one of the most popular programs of the IGU. The programme so far has certified over 250 Golf Rules Officials in India, of which more than 30 officials have qualified under the R&As Tournament Administrator and Referee School (TARS) program also known as the Level 3 Certification. IGUs Referee Certification program is expected to further increase the standards of the most essential part in conduct of tournaments and general play across the country. IGU has made provision in its constitution to affiliate State Golf Associations which have the same objective as the IGU in order to take the game of Golf to every corner of the country. The Indian Golfers both amateurs and professionals have created a mark in the International arena. Most of the professional golfers in the country have risen through the IGUs programs and tournaments and are performing well at the highest level, keeping the Indian flag flying high. The IGU Council is headed by the President and 13 Council members. IGU Secretariat has a Director General and other staff members to look after the day to day activities of the IGU.
