Eco Park's revamped golf course unveiled

Kolkata: The revamped nine-hole Golf Course located at Eco Park's gate number 6 in New Town was unveiled on Sunday, on the eve of the Bengali New Year. The nine-hole golf course, renamed as Golf Arena, has been expanded with the help of a consultant from Delhi.

"We have introduced a membership scheme and the annual membership will come at Rs 15,000. Golf is no longer a game for the elderly who play it for pleasure. It is the current fad among the youth as well. Our main purpose is to give opportunity to young people who cannot afford to join big clubs because of hefty membership fees to play the game," said a senior official of West Bengal Housing & Infrastructure Development Corporation (HIDCO), which is the custodian of the course.

HIDCO, which has plans to organise training courses

for the game, has started coordinating with the different golf

playing clubs in the city and will hold exchange programmes to arouse interest among the members.

"We are also approaching the hotels in New Town and its adjacent areas, so that guests are informed about the sprawling lush green golf arena here, where they can try their hand at the sport," the official added.

The state government has plans to project the golf arena to woo foreign delegates, particularly those from the industry. During the Bengal Global Business Summit in February this year, the industrialists were taken to try their hand at golf in the Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) in Tollygunge.

The Golf Arena had started its journey in July 2017 and it was inaugurated by state Urban Development minister Firhad Hakim.

Before the launch of the golf course in New Town, Kolkata had two golf courses which were set

up during the British period, namely at Tolly Club and the RCGC. Women golfers often use the field behind Race Course and opposite Fort William to play the game.