Four years back, India had just 80 golf courses, most of them out of bounds for the public as they are Defence properties. Today, the country boasts of about 250 golf courses and another 50 are under various stages of development, say experts.
As much as it is addictive, golf is also a very competitive sport. Sandeep started playing golf when he was 9 years old; he played for India as a junior and won a lot of accolades. He then shifted to the United States for higher studies and continued playing golf there.
"It was unfortunate that five of my roommates succumbed in a fire accident where I stayed in US. After that I was not able to concentrate either in studies or golf," says Sandeep.
Following that incident, Sandeep returned to India and sustained is golf career. He also started teaching golf to kids and sent them to junior tournaments and championships.
However, in 2010, Sandeep encountered a tragedy in his life where he was affected by Deep vein thrombosis (DVT), caused by a blood clot in a vein. He says, "I was not able to play golf for three months, it was a very difficult period for me and I had to really work hard to revive again."
Despite facing many obstacles in his life, Sandeep never gave up his dedication to golf. In 2004, he had created a record of scoring most consecutive birdies.
Most of the celebs including cricketers like Murali Vijay, Badrinath and Lakshmipathy Balaji are being coached by him now. "Golf is a great sport, the duration of the game is approximately 4-5 hours and it is also useful for the old age people to be active. It is a stress free sport and gives a feeling of hope to an individual," explains Sandeep about advantages of golf.
Sandeep feels that fitness and flexibility plays a major role in a human's life. And golf provides you that since you have to keep walking on the course.
"Drive, determination and perseverance are the qualities that led to my success. Golf teaches you life lessons like discipline, patience and active lifestyle which can help the kids as well as adults on a day-today basis," concludes Sandeep.
