And the rookies say...

And the rookies say...

Calcutta, Feb 20: This season saw many amateurs golfers queue up at the qualifying school to set new goals and also rake in some money on offer on the PGA of Indian tour. Nearing the end of another season and after the Wills Masters, which was important for some who wanted to climb the Order of Merit to qualify for the Indian Open, they feel they have learnt a lot and have no regrets about turning professional.

Digvijay Singh feels: ``The sooner one turns pro, the better. There is no right time or wrong time, as long as one has the game for it. No divine light is going to shine and help one to decide what the right time is. In fact, I think the time Jyoti Randhawa and Amritinder Singh gave up their amateur status was the right age to do it.''

Calcutta amateur Sanjeev Mehra, who played professional golf before returning to his amateur status and whose sister Smriti Mehra plays on the LPGA and ELPGA tour, could not agree more. According to him, what the tour needs is ``more youngsters turning pro and not just for the sake of it but good amateurs who take it up as a career option. Only when 17, 18-year-olds do so and are not pressured into taking up an alternate career will we be able to get good professionals dedicated to playing good golf.''

Amit Dube wanted to wait to make the Asian Games team before deciding to turn pro. ``That was a priority and when I achieved that, I wanted to turn pro. Now that I have done so, I want to make it to the top 15 on this circuit. However, this year I have missed a lot of events and hope to make up for this with a better season next year,'' he says.

Chandigarh's Amandeep Bhiaka is also unhappy with the way the season has gone so far. ``I have the game, but mentally need to be stronger to play well. I did well in the qualifying school and seem to play even par one day but follow it up with a 80-81. That has to stop.'' He also feels that youngsters who are considering this as a career should be more committed. ``They need to work harder on their games as sub-standard golf has no place out here.''

However, they have all had fun playing this circuit and don't regret their decisions. On the contrary, they all want to get their names on the leader board and become famous.