Purple Cap golf tournament celebrates skill, inclusion among visually impaired, autistic players

BENGALURU: The fifth season of The Purple Cap, a one-of-its-kind golf tournament for people with visual impairments and those on the autism spectrum, was held at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) on Thursday. Both seasoned and amateur golfers with disabilities competed against each other at the event, even as many others tried their hand at the sport for the first time. Altogether 104 golfers participated in this years tournament, which included four persons with vision impairments and one with autism. There was also a golf clinic which taught 14 visually impaired persons the proper techniques of hitting a golf ball. Started by EnAble India Co-founder Dipesh Sutariya in 2021, the tournament was initially meant only for golfers with visual disability. Those with autism were brought into the fold in 2024. The idea of a tournament like this came to me around 20 years ago. I wanted golf to be the way to destigmatise disability. This is not a charity tournament for them. It is to show that if blind or partially blind people can play golf, they can do anything, and can be employed anywhere, Sutariya said. Thumbe Sundeep Rao has been a familiar face at the tournament. Used to playing golf as a teenager, Rao had to drop the sport after his vision gradually deteriorated to a point where he could not see the ball at all. The Purple Cap has allowed me to have with myself the dialogue necessary to get back out there. I have gradually had to adapt; I dont have to be troubled with Oh, I cant see the ball anymore reaction anymore, he said. Ernst Conradie, the first international participant, is a retired blind cricketer from South Africa, who took to golf in 2014. You have to have a good partnership with your guide. Unlike cricket, there are not 10 other guys to bail you out. So that trust is very important, he said. Fresh off the heels of winning the Special Olympics Bharat in the under-14 category, 13-year-old Nandan S from Bengaluru was one of this years standout performers. The national champions mother Harsha Ranjani said that while she believes her son is better at badminton, he has taken to golf unlike anything else. Nandan won in the 1924 Gents category at The Purple Cup.