The biggest story in the growth of Indian golf is Gujarat, a place that just a decade back had no golf tradition to speak of. A bustling centre of the game today, the state has almost as many courses as the NCR. There’s Aalloa Hills—a nine-hole ‘adventure’ course—and Cambay (six holes), both outside Ahmedabad, on the road to Gandhinagar. The picks, however, are indisputably Kensville, an 18-hole championship layout, and Gulmohar Greens (nine holes).

Also, championship courses from the design stables of Jack Nicklaus and Greg Norman are coming up near Ahmedabad. The first course in the country to host a European Challenge Tour event, Kensville is Gujarat’s finest layout. Designed by Col (retd) KD Bagga, the course has single-handedly converted scores of Amdavadis to the game. A 40-minute drive from Ahmedabad, the course carries the Jeev Milkha Singh signature. Like most new courses coming up around the country, it’s a real estate project, but the promoters—Millennium Park Holdings Pvt Ltd—have been careful not to dilute the golfing bit. The golf course will have pride of place among the residences. Exceptionally long from the championship tees, Kensville provides a stern test for all but the longest hitters. Trouble looms on the left on most holes and, in its tight fairways and propensity to penalise if you stray off the tee, the course resembles the famed Lodhi layout of the Delhi GC. Quirkily-positioned hazards add to the challenge.

Move further down the western coast into Maharashtra and nestled amongst the picturesque ghats is Aamby Valley. A bit like a ghost town on weekdays, Aamby Valley is perfect for a mid-week dash, especially for Mumbai golfers tired of the mad rush, which that city’s precious two golf courses—Bombay Presidency Golf Club and Willingdon Sports Club—are inevitably prone to.

Even by the dispassionate standards of course conditioning, Aamby Valley Golf Club would easily rank in the top five courses in the country. Add to that a spectacular natural location—on a sloping forested patch, abutting a deep valley and encircled by low rolling hills, with a complete lack of man-made sounds—silence except the chirping of birds, wind whistling through trees scythed occasionally by the sound of your golf club swishing through the air and it becomes a gem of a layout, one of the better ones by David Hemstock—forgive me for gushing. If you dream about golf, as most of us, this is pretty much how that would pan out. In all fairness, the sense of surreal isolation—heightened by the fact that you’re not in some wilderness, but rather in a curated urban environment—is all pervasive at Aamby Valley.

Here, you are in the middle of what seems like a strangely deserted township, a couple of hours from Pune (or Mumbai), replete with Finnish log cabins, neat tree-lined streets, even a lakeside promenade, and all the sports and hospitality facilities you would care to think of.

Spread over 250 acres at an elevation of 2,700 feet, the course literally flows along the natural contours of the Sahyadri ranges. The course, which was remodelled as a championship venue by PGA DC of Great Britain and Ireland, also has a PGA-accredited golfing academy. And while it’s certainly not an easy layout to get about, I would proffer that it’s an ideal venue to learn the game.

Besides the fact that you’re not likely to be on the clock and sandwiched between groups, the tight layout places a natural emphasis on precision over length, imparting an invaluable lesson to beginners. To reach Aamby, take the Mumbai-Pune expressway to Lonavala, and then take the route past Bhushi Dam to the valley—the distance from Pune airport to Aamby Valley is 94 km, which can be covered in under two hours.

If you are coming from Pune, Aamby Valley needs to be the second course on your itinerary. Just outside town lies the absolutely gorgeous Oxford Golf & Country Club. Carved out on 136 acres amongst hills with stunning backdrops, the course is surrounded by the Sahyadri range on three sides. This championship facility presents a very pretty picture: the lush green strips of the golf course stand out against the stark landscape, with large white sand bunkers adding a touch of their own to the layout. The fourth tee is the highest point of the golf course perched 84 meters above the 14th, which forms the floor, and that gives an idea of the elevation changes that take place on the golf course.

It’s an unexplainable mystery why Goa doesn’t have a championship layout. But golfers heading to India’s biggest holiday destination can tee it up at Goa

Golf Greens, which is part of The Lalit Golf & Spa resort in south Goa.

A nine-hole layout (with alternative tees for the back nine), the course makes up for what it lacks in pedigree with scintillating views of the ocean. A number of holes wind along Canacona beach and the sea breeze makes up the primary challenge for players.

What visiting golfers will appreciate is the lack of rush on the course: hotel residents get their pick of tee times. Moreover, with an excellent spa and all the accoutrements you’d expect from a luxury property, The Lalit is a bonafide holiday option for players, as well as their families. It’s not a stern test of golf, but then a good score is infinitely preferable when you’re vacationing in Goa!

A golfer, Meraj Shah also writes about the game