Taking a measured shot: ITC's Y.C. Deveshwar

The fog. On that winter morning, that was the main fact at the Jack Nicklaus-designed Classic Golf Resort in Gurgaon, on Delhi's outskirts. If anyone could get a hole-in-one around here, it would prove a long-lasting suspicion of non-golfers: that's it not a game of skill. "In Africa," as the old one goes, "some of the native tribes have a custom of beating the ground with clubs and uttering spine-chilling cries. Anthropologists call this a form of self-expression... we call it golf."

Over two successive days-January 18 and 19-of the grand finale of the BT American Express Pro-Am of Champions, some of India's savviest corporate chiefs (it's an exclusive tournament) worked hard to prove that they were not just accomplished goal-definers, instrument selectors and strategy formulators in the safety of their corner rooms, they were equally competent out on the greens-as golfers. They were not beating the ground with clubs (though some came pretty close), they were defining goals, selecting clubs and working out how to get there. Business as usual.

The fun part of golf is that all courses are unique, and the Classic course is perhaps India's most challenging, in a corporate sort of way. Ask ITC's Yogesh Deveshwar, GE Capital's Pramod Bhasin, Coca-Cola India's Alex Von Behr, American Express' Sanjay Rishi, siel's Siddharth Shriram-or any of the other honchos who were there, taking their shot at golfing glory.

Up for grabs was prize money of Rs 7.1 lakh for the pros, and a slew of prizes for amateur participants (CEOs, mainly), including an opportunity to represent India in The Famous Grouse Shotgun Foursome tournament at St. Andrews, Scotland, regarded by many as the home of golf. For the first time, as Business Today's publisher Ashish Bagga pointed out, the Pro-Am of Champions had covered a 'four-city circuit', with the winners of those preliminary rounds gathered at the Classic Golf Resort course for the grand finale.

Non-players stuck to their Tenth Hole vantage point, which offered a panoramic view of the course, birch trees emerging from the fog on the horizon, equipped with sustenance in the form of sandwiches, doughnuts and coffee. It was a chilly day, you see. The N-n-n-n-nineteenth Hole, designated as the non-playing recreation area, proved equally popular.

Accolade time: (L to R) Shell India's Vikram Singh Mehta, Aditya Birla Group's Shubhendu Amitabh, Business Today's Ashish Bagga, G.S. Atwal (father of pro Arjun Atwal), Samsung's J.S. Jong, American Express TRS's K.L. Muralidhara, Grey Worldwide India's Nirvik Singh, Marriott Hotel's Sheema Vohra, KLM India's Arvin Alagh

Leading the professional field were Jeev Milkha Singh, India's foremost golfer, and Arjun Atwal, star of the European and Asian PGA Tour. Also on the course that morning were the top nine players from the 2002-03 Money List on the Hero Honda Indian Golf Tour.

Day one (January 18) was the day for professionals, who were seen putting, driving and chipping to better their scores on the rolling greens. Heavy fog delayed play by an hour, as Atwal teed-off from the Tenth Hole. After heaving a swing, the pro quipped: ''After I've hit it, I've got to find it.''

Adhering to the four-ball format (four golfers to a team) of the tournament, Atwal the pro had three amateurs for company-Sunil Wadhwa of Usha International, T. Nakamoto of Daikin Shriram Airconditioning and Amar Raj Singh of Guinness UDV India, who asked for a ''bravery award'' for playing in this group. ''I am scoring a century in the wrong game,'' maintained Singh, a 20-handicapper.

The fog took its time lifting. Swarovski Country Manager Sanjay Sharma, with an enviable handicap of nine, seemed hesitant to make the first drive as visibility dipped to 100 yards. "Guess as long as I hit straight, it doesn't matter," is all the crystal man could say. The first day also saw the only lady golfer on the course-Navika Punj. With a handicap of 22, she appeared almost to be racing from hole to hole. Construction czar Gopal Ansal, with his trademark hat, appeared to be concentrating on the game. Or rather, on the potential in the game. "Real estate has to go hand-in-hand with golf," he observed, looking half serious, "as golf is the future."

Between the shots: (L to R) McDonald's Vikram Bakshi and Alfa Laval's Satish Tandon

By 2 pm, it was time for lunch-a lavish spread at the course's golf club. The post-lunch session went as post-lunch sessions do. With considerable languor. The fog descended thick and fast. In all, it was a day without the sun, or suns for that matter, either in the East or West. It was foggy from sunrise to sunset.

Day two, being a Sunday, saw the real bigwigs of the corporate world take on the 18-hole, 700-acre course. Conditions being extremely foggy, the game started two-and-a-half hours late-at 10.30 am. However, one man unperturbed by the weather seemed to be the SBI Cards CEO, Iqbal Singh. "When you play in this kind of weather," he beamed, "it's lovely, as you go by gut-feel."

Sanjeev Sharma, Nokia India's taciturn Managing Director, was keen to bring 'human technology' into the picture. "We (Nokia) have a software called the Leader Board where you can track your score for the last 20 rounds hole-by-hole... and it's all downloadable from our website," he announced.

Coca-Cola India's Alex Von Behr: Scored a birdie on the sixth hole

Coke Chief Von Behr, in between glaring at GE's Bhasin for his Diet Pepsi, conquered the sixth hole with a birdie, even as the sun showed signs of making an appearance. The morning, Behr reckoned, had been a Limca morning. All cloudy. Siddharth Shriram, playing with an incredible handicap of nine, decided that the sugary part of the analogy would do just fine. "I am in the sugar business," he joked, in response, "and playing golf is sugary sweet."

AmEx's Rishi, who was playing with Deveshwar, decided to mix his metaphors some other way. As Rishi summed up his experience: "Just two Fs define it-fun and frustrating."

Visibly, the happiest of the lot seemed to be the Procter & Gamble Chairman Bharat Patel, who claimed to be enjoying the fog because, "When it's this cold, my product Vicks invariably becomes a hot-seller." Grey Worldwide India's South Asia Chairman Nirvik Singh, nodded in agreement. "The fog was fantastic this morning," he declared, "as it reminded me of my profession-you hope like hell, but you never know what happens."

Somebody, somewhere, did know what happened-scorewise, at least. Because by evening, the action had shifted to the ITC Maurya Sheraton's Nandiya Gardens for the grand prize distribution ceremony.

The big winner was Arjun Singh, amongst the pros. He made the cut with a final-round score of six-under 66. Arjun Atwal finished second, at six-under 138. Jeev Milkha Singh, Amadeep Johl and Amritinder Singh were tied in the third place at two-under 142.

The lone woman golfer: Navika Punj	Winner takes all: Golf pro Arjun Singh

The team of Arjun Atwal (Pro), Nirvik Singh, Vikram Mehta and J.S. Jong, were declared the team champions with a tally of 95 Stableford points. The runner-up team that tallied 92 Stableford points, comprised Ashok Kumar (Pro), Harinder Bansi, Paresh Kapashi and Subhash Arora. Atwal, the winning team pro earned Rs 30,000, while the amateurs won a three-night, four-day trip to London. The runner-up team pro Ashok Kumar, earned Rs 20,000 while the amateurs won a three-day, four-night trip to Amsterdam.

In the inter-zonal championship, the Delhi Zone emerged triumphant with 88 Stableford points. The team: Indrajit Bhalotia (Pro), Deepak Nath, Sunil Wadhwa and Luv Kumar Khosla. And who got to go to Scotland? Arun Kumar of Hughes Software Systems and Satish Tandon of Alfa Laval.

And which brands got to be remembered fondly by everybody? Why, the brands that helped make all of it so memorable: never-left-at-home American Express, own-road-maker Tata Safari, upper-crest shirt Louis Philippe, airline combo KLM-Northwest, hospitality pro Marriott, the profit-assurer CNBC, the mind reviver Renaissance and, of course, The Famous Grouse.