Rhea Nair is comfortable with the idea of being the only child of Ashok Kumar and Afshan. "I wouldn't like any brothers and sisters. I just like being the only one in the family," she smiles as she settles into a chair at the Emirates Golf Club.
Besides this attention that she gets from her doting parents, Rhea is headed towards a larger public gaze, based on her golfing prowess.
Last year, Rhea Nair topped the 2003 David Leadbetter International Tournament for the girls under-14 division at the Legacy Lakewood Ranch Golf Course in Florida.
Quite an achievement for a young golfer bred and brought up in golf-savvy Dubai.
At the end of the first round, she was tied with a 73 with home-grown girl Carmen Bandea. "But on the second day, I simply focussed on my game and did not even know how my opponent had finished," Rhea recalls.
Movements nurtured
The 15-year-old's movements in the game were first nurtured while accompanying her father to the Dubai Creek Golf and Yacht Club. That was in 1999 when Ashok Kumar's new-found love was spending countless hours on the golf course.
Gradually, the youngster began liking the game which was incidentally being pursued by the father. "I gave her a golf club and she seemed naturally inclined," Ashok discloses.
This inclination saw the petit Mumbai-born lass improve at such a fast pace that very soon she was winning on the local circuit.
Her first silverware came at her favourite DCGYC course when she claimed the Indian Independence Day competition at the age of 11.
This early dose of self-belief paved its way into the typical teenager aspiring for greater things. It was at this stage that her parents opted for a golf academy in the US for their child.
Parting ways was difficult, but it had to be done. So two years ago, Rhea headed off to the International Junior Golf Academy in South Carolina on a new assignment - to get into the world-famous David Leadbetter Golf Academy (DLGA) managed by the highly-acclaimed International Management Group.
It did not take her long to achieve this goal and from last year, she entered the DLGA in Florida, thus becoming the first pupil from the UGA's Junior Development Programme to do so.
The new setting helped as she improved on her handicap at an alarming pace. Currently playing off a 3 handicap, Rhea wants to take it easy during her summer break in the UAE. "It's too hot to play right now," she observes.
But that does not stop her from undergoing a tough physical fitness programme at the gym.
"But I love to play golf the whole year through," she said. "I just cannot stop. If I do stop, then my game plummets. And then I have to work extra hard."
Hard work
However, hard work has never been alien to this focussed teenager. It has been the solid hours of hard work on the courses that have been yielding results. "I do have the talent. But without the hard work, my talent would have meant very little," she said.
Hard work, coupled with setting short-term goals seem to be the right formula for the Dubai girl. "It's the short-term goals that make the difference. The idea of fulfilment is there every time you pass a goal. That keeps me going," she observes.
Despite working her way to a healthy handicap, Rhea is aware that she has unfinished businesses to attend to, specifically in the swing and putting departments.
"The swing can get better, and that would definitely assist my shorter game," she admitted. "I don't like to set ultimate goals. What would one do if she sets a huge goal and then achieves it much before her deadline? I am sure she would be a highly disappointed person. Don't you think?" she questions.
| Factfile * Name Rhea Nair * Born May 12, 1989 in Mumbai, India * Moved to Dubai 1992 * Education The Indian High School, Dubai |
Her sense of satisfaction and achievement lies in the small things. "After playing a good round of golf, you feel happy and satisfied. That is more meaningful to me," she said. "I simply want to be the best golfer I can."
Only 15, Rhea Nair still has a long time to achieve her dreams.
| No handicap IMG academy in Hyderabad The International Management Group is harbouring plans to have a replica of a sports academy in Hyderabad, India. The 200-acre sports academy in Bradenton, Florida, which has harboured Monica Seles and Jim Courier, Anna Kournikova and Freddy Adu, may now be replicated in Hyderabad. This only seems fair. Thanks to their savvy presence in the IT sector, the Indians are guiding Americans through the mysteries of laptops and printers. Now in a grand gesture of hands across the oceans, Americans may teach Indians techniques for coaching and competing at the highest level. The whole idea - which has the blessings of the Chandra Babu Naidu Government - is the brainchild of Andrew Krieger. Krieger said that his partners had purchased land in Hyderabad and that they would invest $135 million in the initial phase. The proposed 400-acre complex will be called IMG Academies Bharata and will be modelled after the campus in Florida, where parents from many nations spend huge amounts in tuition for their children, a few of whom become professional athletes. |
