For son’s sake, Jeev turns caddie

Gaurav Kanthwal

Tribune News Service

chandigarh, may 29

For his son’s sake, ace Indian golfer Jeev Milkha Singh has turned into a caddie. Momentarily. 

Jeev made his debut as a caddie on Tuesday when he carried the bag for his son Harjai Milkha Singh (U-8) at the Longniddry Golf Club during the US Kids Golf European Championship in East Lothian, Scotland. 

Playing in his first international tournament abroad, Harjai shot a 5-over 41 in Round 1 (nine holes) to be tied-31, eight shots behind the leaders Ruairi Cooper (UAE), Aidan Lawson (UK) and Traigh Hunter Pathon (South Africa).

An elated Jeev Milkha Singh said, “I enjoyed my first stint as a caddie and it gave me a whole new perspective of this magnificent sport we play.” 

A caddie makes the golfer aware of challenges and obstacles of the course and devises the best strategy for it — something very similiar to what a father does to a son in life.

Eight-year-old Harjai is a keen golfer and trains at Chandigarh Golf Association Range. It goes without saying that he was inspired by his father to take up the sport, although he has bigger inspirational figures in his house such as grandfather, Milkha Singh, the Flying Sikh, and grandmother, Nirmal Milkha Singh, former Indian women’s volleyball team captain. 

In April 2017, Harjai won his first golf title (7 years category) during the Milkha Junior Golf Challenge at the Panchkula Golf Club. The US Kids Golf European Championship is recognised as a ranked event by the World Amateur Golf Ranking.