Golf is one of the few inclusive sports in today’s landscape: Kapil

Kapil Dev praises golf as an inclusive sport for all ages and genders, emphasizing the importance of sponsor support.

The legendary Kapil Dev stated that golf was one of the few really inclusive sports in today’s landscape.

“It’s true inclusiveness,” said Kapil, at the inauguration of Kapil Dev Grant-Thornton Invitational at the Prestige Golfshire Club in the city’s outskirts on Thursday. “Among physical sports, this is the only game where men and women can compete from the same point, and women can beat the men and men can beat the women.

“It’s one of the few sports where people of any calibre, any age can play together. So an eight-year-old, an 80-year-old, a male professional golfer, a female professional golfer, a business person who has just started playing could all play together and have a good enjoyable round.”

Kapil, who is also the president of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), stressed that golf was never meant to be a game only for the rich and that it should be a game for the masses. He also said that sponsors’ support was essential for all sports, not just golf. “Without money, nothing is possible. Sponsors are indeed the real backbone of any sport.”

The Kapil Dev-Grant Thornton Invitational is a three-day, 54-hole championship which will see some of India’s top male and female professionals compete for a prize purse of ₹2 crore.