The ten States and Union Territories within our Northern India region cover an enormous area of more than one and a half million square kilometres in which more than 500 million people live. Many residents live on the Indus-Gangetic Plain, avoiding the less hospitable Himalayas to the north and the Thar desert to the west, where it forms a natural boundary between India and Pakistan.

The largest city in this region, Delhi, is home to around 25 million people and it’s reckoned to be one of the biggest urban areas in the world. It contains more golf facilities than any Indian city so it’s an obvious “must visit” destination for any visiting golfer, who will experience both old and modern design influences within a reasonable distance from the central business district of New Delhi, the capital.

Delhi Golf Club was formed in 1951, though golf had been played on a municipal course at the same site since the 1930s. The original 18-hole layout was redesigned by Peter Thomson in the late 1970s, when he fashioned a new 18-hole course called the Lodhi and a 9-hole course called the Peacock. Monuments and tombs are dotted around the property, affording it a rather unique atmosphere.

Of a more recent vintage, the new millennium developments at Jaypee Greens and ITC Classic were fashioned by Greg Norman and Jack Nicklaus, respectively, so the construction components of these courses are right up to date. Another modern 27-hole facility, DLF Golf & Country Club, has been designed by Arnold Palmer and Gary Player so there’s absolutely no shortage of big name designers in and around New Delhi.

Further afield, the tree-lined track at Chandigarh Golf Club dates back to 1962, the 18-hole layout at Rambagh Golf Club in Jaipur which overlooks the Moti Dungair Palace and Nahargarth Fort was set out even earlier in 1944, and the course at Agra Golf Club (with its 10 greens and 18 tees) was first established in 1904 as a green buffer to restrict development near the Taj Mahal.