DIFFERENT STROKES Some of the biggest names in business in action at the BT Pro-Am of Champions 2004, presented by Royal Challenge
Abraham Thomas Managing Director, IBM	G.N. Bajpai Chairman, SEBI	Siddharth Shriram Chairman, SIEL	Bharat Patel Chairman, Procter & Gamble

The fog was not much on anybody's mind this time round, though visibility was no more than 220 yards or so. India's top corporate golfers, it's safe to assume, were reasonably clear about the landscape as they cycle-loosened their shoulder muscles for the big swing to get the proceedings going-along the rolling greens of the Classic Golf Resort in Gurgaon. For two days-January 17 and 18-this was to be the site of an amateur cum professional contest that's unique in straddling the corporate and golfing worlds. And, of course, a brand in its own right, with 102 amateurs and 17 pros vying for the honours: prize money of some Rs 6.4 lakh, plus lots more.

Grand function: (L to R) Rekha Purie, Aroon Purie and A.K.M.A Shamsuddin of Shaw Wallace enjoy the excellent ambience and decor at Delhi's Maurya Sheraton

For The Big Swing

This was the ninth Business Today Pro-Am of Champions, presented by Royal Challenge in association with Safari EXI and ITC Welcomgroup Hotels, Palaces and Resorts, the only stand-alone pro-am golfing event recognised by the Professional Golfer's Association of India (PGAI).

Search firm Egon Zehnder's Sonny Iqbal was early in teeing off-not to have search teams sent out for especially hard-hit balls, but to "be with friends over the weekend and have a lot of fun". It's another matter that Iqbal's team, with the pro Monish Bindra and amateurs Arvind Wable and Manu Anand, went on to win the tournament with 131 stableford points.

Winners All The winners get to holiday in London and Dublin, courtesy British Airways and Marriott Global Sales.

Winning team: (L To R) Arvind Wable, BT's Ashish Bagga, A.k.m.a. Shamsuddin, Sonny Iqbal, Manu Anand

Great feeling: Individual Winner Ashutosh Khanna (centre)

On top: Individual winner Hardeep Singh (L) with Charles Carneiro of British Airways

A true ode to joy? Well, all that and more. As explained by Adidas Managing Director South and South-East Asia, Tarun Kunzru, taking golf seriously is good for business. By riveting one to the course, it teaches one to focus. In fact, there's so much to the game that it is a "concentrated dose of life in four-and-a-half hours".

No wonder the Jack Nicklaus-designed Classic Golf Resort also saw the likes of Spanish ambassador Rafael Conde and Finnish expat Jarmo Salonen wield their clubs for golfing glory. Ever the diplomat, Conde mentioned how golf was the main attraction of quality tourism in any country, and expressed a desire to see Indians take to the sport. Salonen may trace his origin to regions close to the Arctic, but happens to be the General Manager of United Paper Mills, Dubai-the company that makes the paper you're holding in your hand. Salonen, though pleased with his drives, was seen taking valuable tips from his team's pro, Rahul Ganapathy.

It works both ways: for the pros, an opportunity to hear of the corporate world. "It's useful for us too," remarked Jyoti Randhawa, one of India's top pros, of playing with Rana Kapoor, CEO of yes Bank. "It is good to know about which businesses are doing well, where to invest money when I can spare it to invest."

And, from an adman golfer, which advertising to heed? Not necessarily, at least not when there's the profit motive to think about. "You've got to keep both the company and the golf ball airborne," quipped SSC&B Lintas Managing Director Nures Sayeed, before the ball took its parabola, "both should be in orbit...but not fatal orbit."

For Dimpled Progress

Day Two had Abraham Thomas, IBM Managing Director, warming himself by the stand-alone heaters dotting the 19th hole (refreshment centre). This Bangalorean, along with his partners Arun Pandurang, MD, Achieva Computing, and K. Jyothiramalingam, CEO, Karnataka Power Corporation, were understandably chilled by the Gurgaon morning. The contest's terrific, they said. "Only, we're not quite up to it, playing golf in such conditions," said Jyothiramalingam.

Flying high: Jeev Milkha Singh receiving a Special Award for excellence in the International arena from Aroon Purie

Special moment: Jyoti Randhawa receiving a Special Award for excellence in the International arena from Aroon Purie

Refreshing: Associated Breweries' Mehru Irani enjoys a well deserved snack

Randhawa agreed. "Though conditions are tough, it's not as bad as yesterday. The course is playing well, there's practically no rough, the fairways are in great shape and the greens are slow and easy." Thomas, drawing an analogy between golf and business, was quick to point out a crucial difference: "In business, you compete with your rivals; in golf, you have to compete against your own score as well as the elements."

It was also SEBI Chairman G.N. Bajpai's first time out at the Classic Golf Resort. His quest? "Rhythm and smoothness of the swing." It wasn't easy, he admitted, joking for good measure, "Because your tee-off is bad, you don't lose a hole, just like in the securities market-when something goes wrong, the market doesn't crash." Yet, what he was really looking for was all the "fresh thinking" he could get on the course.

Pramod Bhasin, President, GE Capital, had some. Both business and golf, he smiled, are extremely egalitarian: "Everybody can play with everyone else." And meeting interesting people, to team-mate KPMG COO Rupendra Singh, was a key attraction of the tournament.

Among the women participants were Mehroo Irani, Managing Director, Associated Breweries, a Mumbaikar with a 24-handicap who observed that "the fairways are fast and the greens are good".

For Objective Synergy

For Ranjit Raj, Executive Vice President, Nestle, it was all about "loads of concentration", though this didn't stop him from citing the advantage of a Polo mint-from an ad he'd once run-over golf: "You'll always have a Hole In One."

Great show: (L to R) S. Reghunathan (Prin. Secy to CM of Delhi), Rupendra Singh (KPMG), Arjun Singh (Pro), Pramod Bhasin (GE)

Having a good time: (L to R) Anup Singh (ITC), Arun Kumar (Hughes), Rana Kapoor (YES Bank), Jyoti Randhawa (Pro)

To affirmative banker Rana Kapoor, though, the synergies between golf and business begin well before nearing the overall objective. "Both need a lot of strategy," he explained, "and have a lot to do with implementation and execution...the time has come where banks need specialisation wherein they can manage risks." Wielding a snazzy new-age driver, Kapoor managed to put many other golfers at risk with his hitting prowess-he had the longest drive for the two days, at a very creditable 287 yards.

Bharat Patel, Chairman, Procter & Gamble, was also pleased with his booming drives, but was let down by his short game. Among the other illustrious names on the greens were Vikram Singh Mehta, CEO, Shell India, U.K. Bose, CEO, Sahara Airlines, Vijay Chauhan, CMD, Parle Products, and Gurdeep Singh, Director, hr, Corporate Affairs and Technology, Hindustan Lever.

Apart from Randhawa, the golfing pros in action included Jeev Milkha Singh, Amandeep Johl, Arjun Singh and Harmeet Kahlon, though it was the unhe-ralded S.S.P. Chaurasia who emerged the best among the pros with a 36-hole total of seven-under 137, two better than Feroz Ali. Chaurasia also took his team of Harinder Bansi, Rajeev Thakore and S. Chowdhary to the runners-up spot with 129 stableford points. The winners would be flown by British Airways to the UK, where Marriott will host them.