Unlike the Asian Games and the Olympics, the SAF Games do not include golf as an event. Against this backdrop the SAARC Golf Championship was introduced in 1999 to provide a platform for Southasian golf governing bodies and golfers to get together, strengthen mutual relationships and compete at the highest regional levels.

It's a pity I never had the chance to play at this premier regional amateur event since just the year before I had declared myself a professional. This year the seventh edition of this prestigious event (from 5-8 May) is being hosted by Sri Lanka for the first time. They have chosen one of the region's finest golf courses, the Victoria Golf and Country Club located in the beautiful hill station of Kandy.

India has hosted the event a few times including the inaugural one in Bangalore. Bangladesh and Pakistan have also played host. The Maldives does not have a golf course or a golf team, so their abstention from the event is understood. That leaves just the two other remaining SAARC members: Bhutan and us.

Bhutan doesn't have a full-length 18-hole golf course yet but we are fortunate enough to have one. The big question now is: when will Nepal host the SAARC golf event?

Perhaps our amateur golf's governing body will get into serious action and reciprocate the many invitations they have accepted these past years. The event used to be a 'Men Only' affair but that changed last year in Lahore when ladies were also included.

Last week, the Nepal Golf Association conducted a qualifying event at Royal Nepal Golf Club to select players for the forthcoming event. After 54 gruelling holes, Tashi Ghale, Tashi Tsering and CB Bhandari qualified for our three-member men's team. We have only two ladies that meet the required handicap criteria, thus Kesang Lama and Shastika Shrestha qualified by default. For Tashi Tsering and Kesang Lama, this is their first appearance in the SAARC Golf Championship. All others have participated in it previously. A special mention should be made for CB Bhandari, who only missed the initial event but has represented us in all the others. So far Nepal's performance has been quite unsatisfactory. This year, we hope our team will fare better and perhaps bring a medal home.

The team, led by Prachanda Shrestha, joint secretary of Nepal Golf Association, left for the Championship on Tuesday and all are geared up for the tournament. Kesang Lama, our new emerging lady golfer, was very excited about her first international appearance and Tashi Tsering, who was also a member of our Namura Cup team to Australia 2003, was in high spirits. Every player in the team is capable of shooting low scores any given day and they have our best wishes and total support. We hope they do much better this year.