No doubt, Nepal has always been at its best in this regard!

Despite its geographical location and infrastructure challenges, the country never looked back in adopting any new thing that adds to its progress and charisma at the international level.

Among various such areas, Nepal holds a special inclination to sports, and has been riding high on success in many national and international sports events.

While Cricket, Football and Volleyball have been some key sports interests of Nepal, there is one new sports trend that the world started talking about in case of Nepal i.e. ‘Golf’.

Here in this article, we will see how Nepal caught up the golf trend, which is today more than a sport and also the country’s most-popular tourism activity.

Golf History in Nepal: Pastureland to Top-notch Courses

The start of golf sport in Nepal dates back to the times of Rana rulers.

As the historians say, ministers in the Rana ruling introduced golf to Nepal by bringing along golf clubs and courses on their return from foreign nations like Scotland, a century ago.

Golf in Nepal took its actual form in 1917 when the then prime minister of the country had reportedly introduced golf clubs along with setting up a basic course.

Beginning with the pastureland for cows (the area where today’s Tribhuvan International Airport is at), the golf sport eventually matured to become the sport played in well-built golf courses.

However, the sport activity remained limited to the then Nepali elite families and expatriates for long until Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) came up in 1965.

However, the sport went on to see many transformations with the growing interest among the locals.

Nepal saw its first real golf tournament Lava Cup in 1920 and marks the anniversary celebrations on September 02, every year.

No Turn Back

It did not take much time for golf in Nepal to become a professional sport that can draw huge sponsors.

The major breakthrough for golfing in Nepal came in 1993 with the launch of Surya Tobacco Company’s annual Surya Nepal Masters Open.

The tournament emerged as the first internationally-organized professional tournament with a hefty cash prize and has been a major attraction for professional and amateur golfers from many Asian and other nations.

The tournament went on to become a most-sought for Nepal Tourism Board (NTB), which has also been promoting golf and joined Surya Nepal Masters as its co-promoter for the event.

The tournament is currently played at the Gokarna Golf Course.

Golfing in Nepal

Today, many call ‘golfing in Nepal’ as one of the key memorable experiences.

Beginning with RNGC in 1965, the country went on to see the emergence of seven well-built golf courses with good standards, with three in Kathmandu (RNGC Course, Gokarna Forest Golf Resort and Tribhuvan Army Officers’ Golf Course), two in Pokhara (Yeti’s Golf Course in Fulbari Resort & Spa and Himalayan Golf Course), and one in Dharan (Nirvana Country Club).

Kathmandu RNGC Course: Developed in 1986 and currently owned by Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC), this is a 9-hole golf course with international standards located in Kathmandu.

Gokarna Forest Golf Course: A 72-course golf area with 18 holes located close to the heart of Kathmandu city, this course is considered as one of the finest golf courses in South Asia spread across an area of 470 acres in the well-preserved Gokarna Forest. More than a course, it gives a sanctuary experience.

Yeti’s Golf Course: Set in the backdrop of Seti River gorge, this 9-hole course is challenging for golfers of all levels: Amateurs and professionals. 

Apart from these, the country also has one private golf course in the Chaudhary Industrial Village premises in Nawalparasi District with a good infrastructure set-up.

Golfing is one of the most expensive sports in Nepal. However, all the aforementioned golf courses maintain required amenities in line with the international standards and have a very high-quality equipment.

Love to visit? One can participate in any of the golfing events conducted in these courses on a regular basis. Besides, you can also learn from them by joining crash courses offered by them.

Nepal All Set for New Golf History

If one has to speak about golf in Nepal, the first name that appears to mind is Pratima Sherpa.

Popularly known as the Nepal’s top-rated golfer and the country’s aspiring first female professional golfer, Pratima earned a wide global recognition in her short career and is a now an active teenage golfer set to make major strides in the country’s golf history.

“Nepal is a smaller country than most and playing golf can be difficult for poor families like ours. But I’ve got a big opportunity to play golf and feel very proud and lucky that I’ve got that chance. I want to become a great golfer,” says Pratima.

Pratima rose to fame as a Nepali golfer nationally and internationally, and has also earned a huge local support.

 “Fruits of labor are always sweet, so now I’ve been given the opportunity to play golf I am going to try my hardest,” says Pratima, who is relentlessly working to set a milestone in the Nepal’s golf history.

Let’s hope more such golf aspirants will rise to fame locally in Nepal making the country’s fame in golf sport to global!

Also Read:

• Nepal’s Growing Enthusiasm for Handball
• Nepal — A Growing Cricket Nation
• Swimming, A High-esteem Sport for Nepal
• Nepal’s Table Tennis Now International Treasure
• Naismith to Nepal—The Basketball Journey
• Nepal’s Taekwondo: Defense At its Best!
• Nepal Ice Hockey – Legacy in the Making
• Martial Arts- Nepal’s Foray into the Art of Self Defense

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Pratima Sherpa (18), a girl born to a couple working in the Royal Nepal Golf Club (RNGC) course next to the Tribhuvan International Airport (TIA) in Kathmandu, never thought that she would become Nepal’s top-rated female golf player.

Sounds That Resonated

                        Pratima Sherpa with her parents

Aspiring to become Nepal’s first female professional golfer, Pratima recalls her rejoicing moments in her early days where she used to feel refreshed listening to the sounds of golf balls hit by golfers at the club.

In fact, Pratima’s passion for golf sport stemmed out during her family’s stay at the golf course with lawnmowers as part of their employment and has moved her further to take up the sport properly from the age of 11 years.

Whereas, roots for her passion actually lies in the typical Nepali rural outdoor game Dandi Biyo, played by hitting a 6-inch long wooden pin (Biyo) into the air with a wooden stick (Dandi) and strike it again before other players catch it, which she played in her childhood.

Dandi Biyo has been Nepal’s unofficial national sport until Volleyball was declared officially on May 23, 2017.

Talent Finds Recognition

    Pratima Sherpa earns wide recognition

Pratima’s talent got due recognition from one of the coaches when she was learning the sport through juniors’ program run by the club.

The coach joined Pratima under his own wing for free and further appointed a member who introduced her to a set of old clubs.

Pratima continued her practice and eventually crossed various challenges that got her around 40 trophies, so far. But, she never relaxed and practices for at least two hours a day.

“Nepal is a smaller country than most, and playing golf can be difficult for poor families like ours. But I’ve got a big opportunity to play golf, and feel very proud and lucky that I’ve got that chance. I want to become a great golfer,” says Pratima.

From Kathmandu to Further Heights

Despite holding such a talent, Pratima had to struggle a lot for getting a passport to fly abroad to present her skill in the global arena.

Even though an American member of the club offered to adopt, Pratima never thought of leaving her parents.

Finally, with the help of her relations, she could get the passport and has recently travelled to the United States, where she stayed six weeks experiencing golf for the first time outside Nepal.

                          Pratima Sherpa (File Picture)

After being hosted by a Nepali software engineer, Pratima competed in five regional tournaments in California winning one of them and made it at top-6 in the two other matches.

A Hong Kong based sponsorship is also in offing for Pratima currently, which requires her to return to States and pursue golf classes at the California’s Santa Barbara City College.

Pratima, currently playing off a five golf handicap, loves to play for the Faldo Series China Championship, the tournament that hosted renowned Northern Ireland golfer Rory McIlroy and  Taiwanese golfer Yani Tseng.

“It’s really wonderful to see that the whole of Nepal has got excited about Pratima. They’re so proud of her and so supportive. She’s an amazing spokesperson, an amazing icon for Nepali golf and more generally for Nepal and Nepali women,” says Oliver Horovitz, a journalist, author and a golf caddy, who met Pratima at RNGC.

For the Country

Keeping aside key challenges in personal life (caring for family) and career passion, Pratima loves and finds her ability to balance both in a proper way.

In the process, she is also pursuing a four-year business studies course at Thames International College of Kathmandu.

“I can’t say how far my golf career will go. Ultimately, I want to become Nepal’s first female professional golfer,” says Pratima.

“Royal family is gone, we have a new government and there are more opportunities for women. There’s a Nepali proverb, Fruits of labor are always sweet, so now I’ve been given the opportunity to play golf I am going to try my hardest,” reads her latest statement.

Public supporters of Pratima have started www.teampratima.com to raise donations favoring Pratima’s career. This clearly shows the level of love and support Pratima has gained from Nepali society for her sincere efforts.

Pratima always wishes to give back to her nation.

“I want to develop golf in Nepal. I will give back to the Nepali golf community and will help underprivileged children enjoy the sport as I have,” she adds.

“Any competitive golfer that wants to be on the world stage is working hard. Not all of them have that joy for every single shot they hit. I thought that was a pretty striking difference from Pratima and other young players. She has an amazing opportunity to really influence a ton of kids over in Kathmandu. She’s inspiring a generation of kids over there,” says a renowned US’ Golf Coach Don Parsons.

 Golf in Nepal In Brief

Golf in Nepal took its actual form in 1917 when the then prime minister of the country introduced golf clubs following his Scotland trip and had also set up a basic course. However, the sport remained limited to the then Nepali elite families and expatriates for long until RNGC came up in 1965.

Apart from RNGC, which has 9 golf holes, Nepal has three other golf courses in the Kathmandu Valley (Gokarna Golf Course), Pokhara and Dharan.

Nepal’s golf community fear RNGC might get affected if the Government of Nepal’s supposed plans to expanding TIA are implemented.

Overall, Nepal has a total of four golf courses in contrast to hundreds of registered golf players.

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