Srinagar, July 26: Fresh from clinching the tour opener of the domestic circuit -- Kashmir Open 2003, Asia`s best golfer Jyoti Randhawa wants to set up an academy to nurture raw golfing talent in the country. "Ten years from now I will definitely have an academy of my own.... Get the youngsters to start early and hone their skills," Randhawa told reporters after going through a nail-biting finish at the Royal Springs golf course here yesterday.
"I would like to give back to the game which has given me so much," said Randahwa, who overcame a stiff challenge from Pappan from Delhi, Mukesh Kumar, Digvijay Singh, Harmeet Kahlon and Arjun Singh, to lift the first tournament on the domestic circuit. Randhawa said he was already helping with tips to junior golfers around him on the tour but would like to devote more time to them once he was through with his active playing days. "It is necessary to give proper guidance to the golfing talent at an early age.

"I started as a junior golfer, then I became an amateur champion and now a professional champion. It is a gradual process and that is how you become a winner. One has to start young," he said.

Randhawa, who played in the Kashmir open 2003 here only after missing the cut at the British Open, suggested that golf should be made accessible to public if it is to progress in the country.

Bureau Report.