The Tamil Golfers Association of Canada was founded with the simple goal of getting as many people from their community as possible to try out the sport that they love.
More than a dozen of their members will have a unique opportunity to get more comfortable on the golf course as they participate in Golf Town's 400some on Sunday. Tharmalingam (Siva) Sivaraj, a member of the Tamil Golfers Association's managing committee, is one of the golfers participating in the event at The Club at Bond Head in Beeton, Ont.
"The main idea of the 400some is to let the people know that this sport can be introduced to you if you have the initiative to come and take part," said Sivaraj, noting that the event's purpose perfectly dovetails with the TGA's. "When I first joined there was a lot of intimidation, a lot of fear, a lot of embarrassment in the beginning.
"That will be easily broken by participating in the 400some, because people are going to be coming from different skill sets, from different walks of life and so forth."
The 400some is exactly what it sounds like.
Four groups of 100 golfers will play Bond Head at the same time. After six holes, all four groups will line up together and take tee shots in unison, putting hundreds of balls in the air at the same time.
"It's going to be a chaotic situation," laughed Sivaraj. "It's scramble ball, so my mindset is to score birdies on every hole.
"I'm hoping that we'll be able to do that with 100 people playing. One of them should be able to birdie each hole."
The 400some was organized by Golf Town and Random Golf Club, a group that puts the emphasis on playing golf rather than competing at it. Erik Anders Lang, the founder and CEO of Random Golf Club, likes to compare it to surfing.
"When we talk about golf, we say we 'go play golf.' But it feels like, actually, what people really do is they go work at golf, you know?" said Lang. "Is there a way to practice surfing? I don't know of one. Is there a deep obsession in surfing with your board? Or is it more just a personal connection that you have?
"Golf has this kind of weird perversion of what's important. I think it's because golf on television tells us what to think. The great thing about golf is that it's actually not a game to be watched. It's a game to be played."
That's why Lang helped create the 400some and other mass scramble golf events. With hundreds of golfers all going at the same time, it helps players — especially novices — forget their hang-ups.
"It's supposed to break the mould of what everyone thinks golf is," said Lang. "Whether you're a non-golfer, whether you're a new golfer, or whether you're a longtime golfer, it's aimed at basically saying, 'hey. wake up. You can make golf whatever you want it to be.'"
As proof of concept, the Tamil Golfers Association of Canada had its 15 tickets for the event all claimed within eight minutes. It's exactly the kind of breakthrough that Sivaraj hopes to see in his organization's membership.
"We have a TGA Academy where they get novice golfing lessons subsidized by our organization," said Sivaraj, noting that Golf Town contributes directly to that program. "This is why we're so excited. We are continuously growing and the members' contribution to our communities and society here in Canada will be enormous down the road."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 4, 2024.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press