When Shubham Jaglan learnt golf from YouTube and became World Junior Champion

What where you doing when you were eleven years old? Going to school? Attending tuitions? Playing Gully Sports? Well, that’s what ordinary children do, but Shubham Jaglan was always something out of the ordinary. At an age where rest of the kids were having petty fights with their friends, Shubham Jaglan was a World Junior Champion in Golf.

Hailing from a small village in the state of Haryana, Shubham’s tryst with Golf started when he was just five years old. Son of a milkman, Shubham belonged to a family of wrestlers. It was his grandfather who wanted him to play something different and not follow the path many in his family had followed in the past. So, when a Non Resident Indian (NRI) opened a golf academy in his village, his grandfather ensured that Shubham was enrolled in the academy despite many objections from the other family members.

Shubham Jaglan with his father

There have been many setbacks in Shubham’s career and the first one hit him right after he started playing the game. The academy at his village was shut down in just two months as there were not many kids enrolled. This would have normally discouraged any five year old kid, but not Shubham. In fact those two months were more than enough for the game of golf to catch Shubham’s imagination and he was hooked.

If not for the NRI, Kapur Singh’s, words to Shubham’s father before shutting down the academy, he might have been forced to leave the sport.

“I couldn’t continue this academy but don’t let Shubham leave golf. He has the potential to make it big,” said Singh while also handing over some of his golf equipment to the kid.

These words were enough for both, Shubham and his family. After the academy shut down, he started playing in their small backyard. His father laid some grass on the surface and made some other arrangements which helped Shubham at least practice the art of putting.

His father also brought a computer on installments and the young Shubham improved his game watching videos of the game on YouTube.

The story of how Shubham met his coach, Nonita Qureshi, is a very fascinating story in itself. Once his father brought a five and half year old Shubham to the premier Delhi Golf Club for practice. But the kid was debarred from it because the club believed that kids so young usually end up spoiling the green grass. Disappointed at this son was not allowed to play his father contacted Amit Luhra, the founder of Golf Foundation.

Amit was instantly impressed with his club swing and referred him to Nonita Qureshi, the head coach at Golf Foundation. There has been no looking back since for Shubham as he has gone to scale great heights with her.

Shubham Jaglan Winning World Junior Championship in 2015

Shubham started making waves quite early. He made a world record at eight years of age in 2012 in the Classic Junior Open and year later he won the World Master of Junior Golf. He was named the World Champion in 2015 and then went on to win the European Junior Championship the following year.

During the course of his small career, Shubham has won more than hundreds of domestic and international events. The now sixteen year old youngster was seen grinding it out at his home in Haryana during the period of coronavirus imposed lockdown.

With a calm head and an extraordinary talent, Shubham Jaglan is one of the brightest prospects for Golf in India and is expected to bring a lot of laurels to the country.