 Brilliant flowers highlight a game on the Guindy Race Course Golf Course. (Right) Towering trees shield golfers on the Cosmo-TNGF Golf Course. (Upper Right) The hazards are generous at the Guindy Race Course Golf Course. (Below Right) A player prepares to finish his round at the Cosmo-TNGF Golf Course. |
 
Visitors to Chennai, the former Madras, can unwind on a choice of two veteran golf courses and both of them have interesting tales to tell!
Set inside the 2400 metre Guindy Race Course, the par 70, 6325 yard golf course belonging to the Madras Gymkhana Club used to be a parade ground for the British Army. While there is not even a single tree to affect play, the breeze off the nearby Bay of Bengal is one variable that has to be factored into a game on this flat-as-a-pancake course.
 Chennai’s other field of green was inaugurated by the Viceroy, the Governor-General and a host of local dignitaries on January 15, 1938. The 6859 yard course is also relatively flat but it has mature tamarind trees lining the fairways for a more challenging and scenic game. The late Raj-era course has been taken under the wing of the Tamil Nadu Golf Federation to become known as Cosmo-TNGF Golf. Birdlife abounds on this 18 hole diversion while deer are sometimes seen grazing in peripheral scrub lands.
An illustrated feature on the golf scene in Chennai can be written on assignment from 1000 to 2000 words, depending upon editorial requirements. A short ‘sidebar’ or a dedicated feature can also be written on the numerous cultural and British Raj attractions of Chennai.
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