Fellowship triumphs at annual tournament

History was created 12 years ago, on January 12, 2008, when 17 Rotarians teed off at the United Services Club for the First Annual Golf Tournament of the Rotary Club of Bombay initiated by Rtn. Moy Biswas. Since then this tournament has been held every year and its evergrowing popularity has led to a roaster of no less than 32 competitors.

On January 12, 2019, the Twelfth Annual Golf Tournament for the Trophy instituted by the Biswas family in 2008 was held at the Willingdon Sports Club.

President Vijay Jatia officially began the tournament with a ceremonial tee-off at 8.15 am. Then began the serious business of arranging participants from ages 25 to 75 years into the following groups: Pradeep Chinai, Anand Shah, Dinesh Lal and Rajbir Singh; Madhup Vaghani, Kush Shah, Deepak Premnarayen and Uday Bhansali; Sushil Jalan, Pashupati Advani, Vitek Goyel, and Amay Merchant; Bimal Mehta, Dilip Dalal, Munna Javeri and Ali Merchant; Suresh Goklaney, Vinod Bhatia, Amar Chopra and Gulab Kalani; Dev Thukral, Arvind Jolly, Anil Goyel and Ashok Advani; Satyan Israni,
Ashok Minawala, Gautam Agarwal and Moy Biswas.

While the camaraderie among players was excellent, their competitive spirit was high, with all the golfers playing
to the best of their abilities. The eagles, birdies and pars (as well as some unwanted bogeys) kept coming. Fortunately, the weather was excellent, with a cool winter morning to lighten the golfers’ exertion.

Moy Biswas’s planning was meticulous and execution impeccable. The fellowship that followed was equally engaging and exhilarating, with the presence of several stalwart Rotarians and family. While PP Rtn. Arvind Jolly was a participant of the tournament, a record number of Past Presidents were already at the Cabbage Patch namely Rahim Muljiani, Nalin Parikh, Arun Sanghi, Sandip Agarwalla, Kalpana Munshi, Rumi Jehangir, Nandan Damani, Ashish Vaid, Nowroze Vazifdar and Ramesh Narayan.

After a group photograph, the presentation ceremony began with Moy and his usual sense of humour.

This was a special year for the tournament, said Moy, as the first tournament in 2008 was held on January 12th and this year – its twelfth – was also being held on January 12th. Moy explained the history of the tournament and
acknowledged Dev Thukral’s support in designing the trophies.

Moy profusely thanked Madhup Vaghani for his generous contributions and for his invigorating effort at making the fellowship enjoyable. He also mentioned that Madhup has sponsored this fellowship earlier and this would be his fourth time. He thanked Pradeep Chinai for facilitating the arrangements at the WSC as well as hosting the breakfast
for the participants. He also thanked Naresh Jain, Arvind Agarwal, Bimal Mehta and Framroze Mehta for their generous contributions year after year.

On behalf of the Sports Committee, Moy presented a special present to President Vijay Jatia for his motivation and encouragement.

PP Rtn. (Dr.) Rahim Muljiani then came on stage and complimented Moy for single-handedly introducing and nurturing
this event and converting it into a flagship sports event of the year.

A lucky draw was organised to show appreciation for the non-participating ladies, present year after year, to motivate and encourage participants. PP Rtn. (Dr.) Rahim Muljiani eventually declared Malti Jain as the “Lucky Lady”.
The longest drive in Hole No. 01 was awarded to Rajbir Singh and nearest to the pin in Hole No. 18 was awarded to Dinesh Lal. The runner-up prize was presented to Pashupati Advani.

Finally, Dev Thukral was crowned the winner of the Twelfth Rotary Club of Bombay Annual Golf Tournament. This is the third time Dev has bagged this trophy. All those present applauded and congratulated the champion as President Vijay Jatia and Moy presented the winner’s trophy.

The event concluded on a joyous note by declaring the forthcoming birthday of fellow Rotarian and golfer Dinesh Lal. It was celebrated by cutting a cake and the singing of the Happy Birthday song.