– Bikram Giri and Kamal Kumar Basnet Talented 16-year-old amateur golfer Sadbhav Acharya won the title of Surya Nepal Golf Tour, 2022-23 becoming the youngest to do so in the country. Earlier, the record was held by Subhash Tamang. Tamang had made that record when he was 16 years and 11 months. Acharya broke Tamang’s record by winning the title in 16 years and 10 months. In the competition that ended on Friday, Tamang came fourth overall while second in the amateur category. The pair of Tamang, who turned 21, and Acharya,16, had recently won a gold medal for Nepal in the 36th Amateur Golf Championship held in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh. As the third generation golfer in the family, Acharya started playing golf from a tender age of four. His father Deepak Acharya is a former national golfer and currently the General Secretary of Nepal Golf Association as well as Senior Director of Gokana Golf Club. Following his father’s footstep, Sadbhav developed an interest in playing golf from an early age. As a result, he succeeded as a junior golfer and now as an amateur golfer. While also continuing his studies with Kathmandu World School, Sadbhav is currently undergoing training at the Golf Academy in Bangalore, India. However, the story of golfer Subhash is exactly the opposite. At the age of 10, Tamang, who has has not completed primary education, came to Kathmandu from his home in Kanjyosom Rural Municipality in Lalitpur in search of work. He lived with his nephew who worked at a hotel near the golf course adjoining the Tribhuvan International Aiport while the nephew’s son worked at the golf course. “I also got a chance to work on the golf course as a ball boy”, Subhash recalled, “I spent four years looking for balls hit by golfers.” Tamang gradually developed a desire to play the sport, which ultimately led to him becoming a popular golfer in the country today. According to the World Amateur Golf Ranking, Tamang is Nepal’s number one amateur golfer. He won the gold medal for Nepal in the 13th South Asian Games held in Nepal in 2019. Meanwhile, both Acharya and Tamang are looking forward to advance their professional careers through golf and finally represent Nepal professionally in the world stage. Both golfers are currently harnessing their golf skills and abilities at the Tarun Sardesai Golf Academy in Bangalore, India. This is India’s first residential golf academy started by former Indian golfer Tarun Sardesai. The Tamang-Archarya duo is aiming to not only win medals for Nepal in international competition, but also to make Nepal known around the world through sports and to support tourism development through the medium of sports. They are soon going to take part in golf tournaments being held in Japan and Singapore. General Secretary of Nepal Golf Association Deepak Acharya says the state has developed a positive impression towards the game of golf after Tamang won the gold medal in the 13th South Asian Games. This is certainly going to help Acharya and Tamang to go for more glory at the Asian Games and beyond. —