Top British golfer Darren Clarke engaged in Sri Lanka golf project

• To design championship golf course in Sri Lanka, plans to be top course in Asia

Darren Clarke, the man tipped to become the captain of the European Team at the next Ryder Cup, is engaged in a golf project in Sri Lanka. In an exclusive interview with the Daily FT, Clarke said that he and Indian golfer Shiv Kapur are designing a championship golf course complete with a golf academy in Sri Lanka, and considering a similar project in Turkey.
Clarke, a golf veteran of over 25 years and two-time World Golf Championship winner, said the Sri Lanka project is in an “advanced stage of planning” and more information would be available soon.
According to industry insiders, this project would be Sri Lanka’s first branded championship golf course, with the potential to attract the lucrative high-spending golf tourists as well as potentially high-profile names to play in Sri Lankan tournaments.
Clarke said he was excited about the project and the impact it could have on golf’s development in Sri Lanka and said that with the proper training and facilities Sri Lanka could produce a world class performer before long.
The interview was conducted soon after the European Team’s victory in the recent Ryder Cup held in Scotland.
Clarke was part of the Sky Sports commentary team this time but is expected to play a major playing role in the tournament in 2016, when the Ryder Cup is moved to the United States. Most pundits back Darren Clarke to be named captain of the European side.
Following are excerpts of the interview:

Q: Tell us a little bit about what you are up to these days?
A: I still feel I have plenty to offer from a playing standpoint so I practise as hard as ever, but still striving for consistency Sky invited me to be a guest analyst at the Ryder Cup and I thoroughly enjoyed it so maybe when my career’s over, who knows…
Q: You must be quite happy that the European team won the Ryder Cup?
A: It was a polished and impressive performance from both captain and team. Rory McIlroy showed just why he is the world’s No.1 golfer and Justin Rose did his reputation no harm at all. But everybody played their part in a great team effort.
Q: Mcllroy recently backed you to become the Ryder Cup Captain in 2016. How do you feel about that?
A: I’m delighted Rory thinks I’d be the man for the job and I hope I get the chance to prove him right. But there’s a committee who will decide and I only hope they agree with him.
Q: You have been involved in golf for over 25 years. How do you see the game developed outside Europe and the US?
A: The game has developed enormously around the world in the last 20 years and has turned into a $ 2 billion industry. Asia has seen the greatest growth while more and more countries will be attracted when golf is included in the Olympics in 2016.
Q: What prospects for South Asia?
A: I can only see greater expansion and involvement in the area. It’s amazing when you consider countries like Turkey and Sri Lanka have clubs more than 100 years old that it has taken so long for the game to really catch on. But along with my European Tour colleague Shiv Kapur, I’ll be hoping to boost interest very soon in Sri Lanka.
Q: That’s interesting. Tell us more?
A: We are in the process of making plans to design and build a championship course complete with academy which will encourage youngsters to take up the game at a young age. The project is in an advanced stage of planning and Shiv Kapur and I are very excited about the project. Hopefully we will be able to give more information in the near future.
Q: What’s your background in golf design?
A: I’ve designed four courses over the years, but I couldn’t be involved as much as I would have liked to. But I plan to be hands-on when the Sri Lankan one is being done. I always wanted to come to Sri Lanka, heard a lot of good things about the history of golf there, have good friends from there.
Q: Why Sri Lanka?
A: The country has massive potential for golf. There has been much post-war growth following the return to political stability while tourism is growing and will increase. Golf is a natural asset for all growth and development. We are looking at creating what will be the first branded golf resort in Sri Lanka. There aren’t that many in the entire South Asian region.
Q: How can relatively small countries like Sri Lanka position itself in the global golfing map?
A: It can do this by building more top class courses and attracting people from all around the world to play them. The country already has some top class venues and as more arrive so will the tourists. Our project will hopefully play a pivotal role with the golf academy I hope to bring in to the project. It may not be long before Sri Lanka produces a world class performer.
Q: What’s the plan for Sri Lanka?
A: What I bring to the table is a modern way at looking at golf. A lot has changed with golfing equipment and technology over the last decade or so, and we want to build a course that complements this new way of looking at the sport. With the plan that we have for the Sri Lankan course, this is what we want to see happen.
We will be bringing in one of the world’s top golf architects to work with Shiv Kapur and me on the project – Paul Jansen. Paul, our architect, has already created a course in Vietnam that won the best course for Asia in 2013. Looking at the property we have in Sri Lanka, he’s confident he repeat that feat again in Sri Lanka. Paul is bringing more than two decades of experience in the field into this project.
Q: How far into the project are you now?
A: We’ve made significant progress. We’ve scoped out the location. Paul, our architect and designer, visited the site in Sri Lanka. He and I are of the view given the natural advantages the plot of land we have which is along the beautiful Indian Ocean, that we have the potential to create something that could well be within the top 100 courses in the world. Definitely one of the very best in Asia.
Q: How do you see this help the game in Sri Lanka and the region?
A: The more top class courses there are, the more people will play them and the more tourists will be attracted. That’s good for the game and the economy. A golf resort will definitely see lot of high net worth individuals coming into the country, particularly from places like Japan, India and even Europe. I’m hoping the academy that we plan on building will also have a major impact in training people interested in the sport, particularly young people across the region. I’m really looking forward to helping that development and growth.