T-OFF (ISSUE15) OCT - DEC 2019 | Page 36

MY STORY How I smashed a police car! G olf is truly a gentlemen’s game. But when I took up the sport, little did I know I that one day I would end up in a police cell. My crime? Slicing the ball. Though this unfortunate, and hilarious, incident happened 25 years ago on a Sunday morning at Kiambu Golf Club, it is still fresh in my memory. I and my brother Ashok, were eagerly looking forward to the much-awaited friendly match play against our opponents, Mahesh and 36 Paku. This was going to be the fifth and final game of our series of five matches. The losers would have to host an elaborate dinner attended by spouses at a venue decided by the winners. “We must win today”, I told my brother as we drove to Kiambu. We had settled for an early tee off time… 7.15 am. We arrived at the Club few minutes before our opponents, enough time for little putting practice and some warm up. There was an aura of excitement as we were all psyched up. It was indeed a tough match. As we stood on the 9 th tee, the match was all square. “This is the moment to show these guys what I am made of,” I urged on myself quietly. Mahesh and Paku drove fairly well. Teeing off before us by virtue of winning the previous hole, they perfectly smacked their shots straight and long splitting the fairway down the middle almost 300 yards! Not to be cowed, I opted for a more accurate club…my trusted 3 Wood. For those who play or have played in Kiambu, you know the 9th hole fairway runs parallel to the main road on the right. At a