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Khelo India — Ministry of Youth Affairs & SportsTarget Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) — MYAS via Mission Olympic CellSAI Sports Training Centre (STC) — Sports Authority of IndiaNational Sports Development Fund — MYASNational Coaching Development Scheme — SAIShiv Chhatrapati State Sports Award — Govt. of MaharashtraHaryana Medal Reward Policy — Govt. of HaryanaKhelo India — Ministry of Youth Affairs & SportsTarget Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS) — MYAS via Mission Olympic CellSAI Sports Training Centre (STC) — Sports Authority of IndiaNational Sports Development Fund — MYASNational Coaching Development Scheme — SAIShiv Chhatrapati State Sports Award — Govt. of MaharashtraHaryana Medal Reward Policy — Govt. of Haryana
Precision

Golf

Golf is a precision sport listed on SportSupport, on the Olympic programme. · 34 athlete profiles on SportSupport

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Reviewed profileAchievements, tournaments, coaches and FAQs on this page are compiled by hand from federation, government and press reporting, drawing on Wikipedia — Golf in India, Anirban Lahiri, Olympics.com — Anirban Lahiri profile, Golf Monthly — Anirban Lahiri facts, Prokerala — DP World India Championship 2026 coverage, Fox News/AP — Lahiri 2015 PGA Championship coverage. These are not cited to individual documents: we hold no per-claim source for them, so treat dates, counts and career records here as a summary rather than a reference. Sections we hold nothing for are left empty. Sport pages last reviewed as a set: September 2026.

Overview

Origin
15th century Scotland
Category
Precision
Olympic discipline
Yes
Paralympic discipline
No
Central pathway
Olympic (TOPS eligible)
Athlete profiles on SportSupport
34

Governance and status

Each field below is shown only where we hold a source for it; anything else reads “Not currently verified” rather than a guess. Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition is granted year by year, so it is only ever shown with the year it applies to. Last reviewed: September 2026.

Indian governing/organising body
Indian Golf Union
Ministry recognition
Indian Golf Union — Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — as at 2026Source: Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports — List of recognised National Sports Federations
International federation
Not currently verified
Khelo India inclusion
Not currently verified
TOPS eligibility
In scope — TOPS covers Olympic medal prospects
Olympic status
On the Olympic programme
Paralympic status
Not a Paralympic discipline

Golf is listed on SportSupport in the precision category. Its recorded origin is 15th century Scotland. It is on the Olympic programme. We list Indian Golf Union as the Indian governing/organising body for the sport.

Golf is on the pathway that runs through India's national sports federations to the Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS), with selection running through Indian Golf Union against its published benchmarks. Being on this pathway is not itself a statement that the discipline is currently in TOPS — TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group chosen by the Mission Olympic Cell.

Scholarships & Funding

Central, state and private scholarships available for golf athletes in India.

  • Khelo India Talent Identification & Development (KITID)

    Monthly stipend (₹10,000 for selected Khelo India athletes), boarding, coaching and kit at accredited centres for talent identified through the Khelo India selection process (Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports). Applies only to disciplines on the official Khelo India Games list, and only to athletes it selects.

  • Target Olympic Podium Scheme (TOPS)

    Central government scheme covering training, foreign exposure, equipment and an out-of-pocket allowance (up to ₹50,000/month) for athletes inducted by the Mission Olympic Cell. TOPS covers a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines rather than every Olympic sport, and induction is decided athlete by athlete; we hold no current list confirming whether golf is among the covered disciplines.

  • National Sports Development Fund (NSDF)

    Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports fund used to sponsor elite athletes' training, foreign coaches and equipment. Allocations are made case by case; we hold no record of NSDF support specific to golf.

  • Pension for Meritorious Sportspersons

    Lifetime monthly pension (₹20,000 for Olympic/World/Asian/CWG medallists; scaled by tier) for retired internationals who meet the scheme's medal criteria — Government of India.

Explore all government schemes →

Indian Players

34 profiles
Browse the full athlete directory →

Rules

Golf is played over 18 holes, each with a par (usually 3, 4 or 5), the aim being to hole the ball in as few strokes as possible. In stroke play the lowest total score across the round wins; in match play each hole is won, halved or lost. Play begins from the teeing area and the ball must be played as it lies — moving, improving the lie or grounding the club in a bunker draws penalties. One penalty stroke applies for an unplayable lie, a ball in a penalty area or a lateral relief drop; two strokes (or loss of hole) for playing a wrong ball or the wrong place. A ball hit out of bounds or lost is played again under stroke-and-distance. Players may carry a maximum of 14 clubs, and handicaps allow golfers of different standards to compete on equal terms. Slow play, advice from outside the caddie and equipment breaches are all governed by the R&A/USGA Rules of Golf.

Authoritative rulebook: Indian Golf Union. Age-group and school-level variations are published by SGFI and the state associations each season.

Positions

Typical roles across precision sports. These are category-level descriptions, not a sourced golf squad list.

  • Rifle / pistol events
    10m air, 25m and 50m disciplines shot to an electronic target.
  • Shotgun events
    Trap and skeet — moving clay targets scored on hits.
  • Archery — recurve & compound
    Ranking round and head-to-head elimination matches.
  • Team events
    Three-athlete team formats contested at Asian, Commonwealth, World and Olympic level.

Equipment

Standard kit and infrastructure required to train and compete in golf at a federation-recognised event.

  • Maximum 14 clubs — driver, fairway woods, hybrids, irons, wedges, putter
  • Golf balls conforming to R&A/USGA specifications
  • Golf bag, trolley or caddie
  • Tees, ball markers, pitch-mark repair tool
  • Golf glove and spiked/soft-spike shoes
  • Rangefinder or yardage book (distance-measuring devices, where permitted)

Governing/organising body

Body listed on SportSupport

Indian Golf Union is the body we list as the Indian governing/organising body for Golf. Its recognition status as we hold it: Annual recognition renewed by the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports (as at 2026). Recognition is granted year by year, so read the federation profile for the source.

Origin
15th century Scotland
Olympic
Yes
Paralympic
No
Category
Precision

Major Indian Events

Domestic competitions we hold a source for in golf.

  • Amateur Golf Championship of India / All India Ladies, Seniors and Junior Championships

    Organized by the Indian Golf Union — golf was first played in India in 1829. The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the domestic professional circuit.

  • Indian Golf Premier League / DP World India Championship

    The Indian Golf Premier League launched in 2025 as a new club competition. The DP World India Championship (Delhi Golf Club, since 2024, USD 4 million purse) has drawn a global field including Rory McIlroy and Tommy Fleetwood.

International Events

Continental and world-level competitions we hold a source for in golf.

  • European Tour / PGA Tour

    Anirban Lahiri became the first Indian to win consecutive European Tour events (the 2015 Malaysian Open and Hero Indian Open), tied fifth at the 2015 PGA Championship — the highest-ever finish by an Indian at a men's major — and became the first Indian selected for the Presidents Cup (2015, 2017). He finished runner-up at THE PLAYERS Championship in 2022, the PGA Tour's flagship event, earning the largest single paycheck (USD 2.18 million) by an Indian golfer.

  • Olympic Games

    Lahiri represented India at both the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Shubhankar Sharma became the youngest Indian to win on the DP World Tour (Joburg Open, 2017, aged 21) and represented India at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

Leagues

No dedicated professional league is currently catalogued for golf. The national championship under Indian Golf Union remains the top domestic competition.

All leagues →

International Players

Globally recognised golf athletes to know outside India.

The international federation for golf maintains the current world ranking — check the federation site for the up-to-date top names.

Career Options

Ways to build a career in golf — on the field, on the sidelines and behind the scenes.

  • Lahiri was awarded the Arjuna Award in 2014, the eighth Indian golfer to receive it; he trained under coach Vijay Divecha after moving from Pune to Bengaluru as a teenager
  • His coach and Indian golf commentators have credited his high-profile results with directly boosting junior participation and parental buy-in for golf as a career in a sporting culture historically dominated by cricket
  • Golf remains a genuinely expensive sport to access in India — it has 'not yet caught on' beyond wealthier classes due to cost, per Wikipedia — though the domestic PGTI circuit offers a real earning pathway, and coaching, caddying and club management are additional career routes as infrastructure grows

Related academies

0 listed

No golf academies are catalogued in the directory yet. Browse the full academy list or list your academy to appear here.

Government Schemes

3 listed

Central and state schemes that fund training, stipends and awards for golf athletes and academies.

All government schemes →

FAQs

Common questions about golf in India.

Who governs Golf in India?▾

We list Indian Golf Union as the Indian governing/organising body for Golf, and state associations affiliated to it run age-group and state-level competition. We hold no current-year Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports recognition record for it, so this is not a statement that it is currently a recognised national sports federation — recognition is granted year by year.

Is Golf an Olympic sport?▾

Yes, Golf is on the Olympic programme. Athletes selected by Indian Golf Union against its published criteria can be considered for TOPS funding.

How do I start playing Golf in India?▾

The usual routes are a school team under the School Games Federation of India (SGFI), a college team under the Association of Indian Universities (AIU), or a private academy affiliated to your state association under Indian Golf Union. Age-group state championships follow from there.

What government schemes support Golf athletes?▾

TOPS supports a Core Group and a Development Group of disciplines selected by the Mission Olympic Cell, rather than every Olympic sport. We hold no current list confirming whether Golf is among them, so we make no TOPS claim for it. State governments give cash awards to medallists at events they notify. Golf does not appear on the official Khelo India Games discipline list, so we make no Khelo India claim for it.

Golf in every state & UT

Dedicated pages for Golf in each Indian state and Union Territory — academies, schemes, athletes and how to start.