I grew up playing this game at the Royal Nepal Golf Club. In those days, golf was about trying to win club level tournaments. The biggest accomplishment was to win the Club Championship, the most prestigious event of all, played off scratch (no handicap) in a matchplay format (one on one).

Back then it was rare for any golfer in Nepal to travel abroad to participate in international tournaments. Things changed however in 1993 after Surya's international tournaments began in Kathmandu. After this event, Nepal's golf outlook changed dramatically for everyone involved with the sport, from professionals to general golfers, right up to those developing golfing facilities.

Before 1993 there were just two professional golfers in Nepal, Ghanashyam Thapa and Rithe Sapkota. Today, there are just over 20. The number of golfers has multiplied five-fold and together with them, the golfing facilities. After that watershed year, many Nepali golfers also began playing in international tournaments.

Surya Nepal has certainly helped improve the standards of golf in Nepal. We don't have many professional tournaments and every pro golfer here and even general golfers, spend the entire year in anticipation. Some wait to participate, some just want to witness it.

Even with such interest and enthusiasm, we have yet to see a Nepali winning. In my opinion, the lack of tournaments for professionals is the main reason for our golfers not being able to come out on top. Pro golfers in Nepal have very few opportunities to compete, hardly five tournaments in a year. This is just not enough for a person to viably consider making golf their profession. Compare this to the Indian professionals who have almost 30 major events a year.

The result is that the Indian standard of golf has grown tremendously and their players have been performing better every year. As expected, the Indian pros dominate the Surya Nepal Masters. The closest a Nepali came to winning was back in 1996 at the Royal Nepal Golf Club when Deepak Thapa Magar finished second. In other years, Ramesh Nagarkoti and myself have both reached the fourth position.

To try and raise the Nepali professional from the position of the underdog into a frame of mind ready to succeed, the Nepal Professional Golfers Association together with Gokarna Forest Golf Resort, have organised a preparatory tournament. The Gokarna Nepal PGA Classic started on 30 November till 3 December. A number of golf lovers individually contributed to the prize money and the winner is expected to take home Rs 25,000.

We are hoping the tournament this week will boost local players, help fine tune their game and give them that sharper edge to succeed. We may just be fortunate this year and see a local professional winning Nepal's top golfing event.

Deepak Acharya is a golf instructor and Head Golf Professional at Gokarna Forest Golf Resort & Spa, Kathmandu. [email protected]