Developmental body finally throws open Kharghar golf course for public use from today, 10 months after completion
Heer is a piece of good news for putters in and around the city. After a delay of 10 months since its completion in February, the City and Industrial Development Corporation of Maharashtra Limited (CIDCO) decided to throw open the Kharghar golf course for public use, starting today, after Union Agriculture Minister Shard Pawar finally inaugurated it on December 23.
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Currently, only nine holes of the 11-hole course would be available for putting. Registrations to play a game have already commenced at the CIDCO office that is located on the golf course premises. A call on offering memberships would be taken later.
CIDCO executive engineer Ramesh Giri said, “We are all set to throw open the course for public from January 1. We have decided not to start membership facility for the time being. The decision will be taken considering people’s response. Golfers can enjoy the nine-hole game by paying for every session. While the fee for a single game on weekdays will be Rs 500, it will Rs 750 on weekends.”
The golf course would be closed on Mondays for maintenance. Two of the 11 holes would be reserved for learners. Besides, enthusiasts can avail services of caddies and get necessary equipment at the course itself. Giri said, “We have appointed caddies and a master caddie who will help golfers during their games. In addition, we have bought the required golf kits and other equipment. So the people will just have to register themselves to play at the Kharghar golf course.”
In the past, MiD DAY had published a report (‘Rs 38-crore golf course to wait 9 months for CM inauguration’, May 26) on how unavailability of dates from Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan’s end had forced CIDCO officials to postpone the inauguration of the course on several occasions.
Course altered
The CIDCO had started construction of an 18-hole golf course on 103-hectare plot in Kharghar in 2008. But the authority had to alter its plan as some part of the land was under the forest department’s jurisdiction and its officials refused to part away with it. Hence, CIDCO officials constructed an 11-hole course.u00a0