Harmeet Kahlon’s Journey: How an Asian Tour winner found a new home in Canadian golf (presented by Lightspeed)

By: Nkele Martin, PGA of Canada 

When Harmeet Kahlon, fresh out of university, began his first job in the early 1990s, he would hear of his chairman flying to-and-from Calgary for business. Oil brought the company leader from India to the Wild Rose Country, but more than three decades and thousands of holes played later, golf brought Kahlon down the same path. “This is destiny,” he said.

Born in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, Kahlon started swinging the club at the age of seven in Mombasa, Kenya, where his father was posted as a merchant ship captain. Kids weren’t allowed on the British-owned course, so his father had to get creative; sneaking his little one under the veil of dusk to get some shots in. “I think that maybe the forbiddenness, the forbidden fruit, as they say, became an inspiration,” he said.

That forbidden fruit remained sweet when his family returned to India, and Kahlon tirelessly worked on his craft. “It [Chandigarh] is a small town, and I just loved the game. And there was nothing else to do, so I just played golf,” he said.

By ‘played’, Kahlon means succeeded. He quickly climbed the ranks as an amateur, becoming the country’s number one golfer in the category for seven years in a row while travelling across Asia and racking up wins in tournaments such as the Singapore Open Amateur, the Amateur Golf Championship of India and the Asia-Pacific Amateur Championship, now called the Nomura Cup.

“[I] just didn't look back and didn't think much and just kept on playing and got supported by people and great sponsors like Hero and Toyota and Oil India and KNSO,” he said. 

Kahlon received a scholarship to attend Chandigarh University, which led to his role as an officer on special duty at Oil India Limited, where he was employed to excel in golf while representing the company and the country. The flexible role - playing while holding coaching camps and clinics for executives and government officials - gave him the opportunity to turn pro and compete worldwide.

“Luckily, my work was golf,” he said. “My job was to perform well in the game and do well for the company and the country. I didn't have to go to an office as such.”

Kahlon’s sporting excellence was recognized by the Indian government in 1997, when he won the Arjuna award, one of the most prestigious sporting honours in the country.

“There's a beautiful ceremony in the presidential palace in New Delhi, and there are players from every sport there: hockey, cricket, soccer. So I got it that year for golf, and it's a beautiful ceremony. The president gives it to you, and you get a scroll,” he said. And quite an unexpected perk: a lifelong, first-class railway pass. “I’ve used that a lot.”

Kahlon says his prime spanned from 1995 to around 2007, during which he won an Asian Tour event and played in events across Europe, Asia and America. “That was my peak, and I was practicing a lot more. I was giving more time to the game,” he said.

Kahlon’s playing career continued outside of his self-prescribed peak, but he began to shift his focus to teaching the sport that brought him around the world. 

“I always like to give back to people because golf is such a game where you can't see yourself, and all golfers want to get better and they try to figure it out on their own, but they can't,” he said. “So I was always forthcoming and kind of helping people get better at the game because I know how much it means to golfers to get better.”

And where else to start but Chandigarh? 

He gained his teaching experience at the city’s Mohali Golf Range, eventually becoming its director of golf for nearly a decade, before a family decision brought him to Canada.

The family followed their son west in 2024, but before their plane even took off, Kahlon was exploring the country’s golf ecosystem. He started his professional certification while still in India and received a placement as a coach at Golftec in Toronto. 

Within a year, Kahlon went even further west to Alberta’s Broadmoor Public Golf Course, where he began as Director of Golf and Head Professional. And just like during his career, it wasn’t possible without support. “From the point of getting my CV vetted by Nelson Inacio, to getting letters of reference from Mr. Kevin Thistle, to getting the placements through the PGA website. The whole network is there to support employment and players, which is amazing,” he said.

Kahlon, who mingled with Canadian pros on the Asian tour in his late teens, has been impressed with the country so far.

“The courses are beautiful. I have not seen people enjoy golf so much,” he said.

“Sherwood Park, where I stay, is like a smaller suburb of Edmonton. It's quite like Chandigarh, a very close-knit society where everybody knows everybody. And Broadmoor has a great history, it's a fantastic place, and I'm quite at home here.

“I’m learning things about hockey and integrating hockey and golf into my teaching. So it's a lovely journey.”

His team? “The Oilers, of course. That's a no-brainer,” he said.

Even off the course, the country is seeping into Kahlon’s DNA. “The three things I've learned in Canada: you're not a true Canadian until you have a Costco membership, you have a truck and you like Tim Hortons,” he joked. “I'm quite a bit Canadian, yeah. Except for the truck, the other two I’ve ticked off.”

With two seasons under his belt, Kahlon says both revenue and participation has improved at Broadmoor. “We had almost 100 ladies taking coaching this summer, about 225 juniors and about 25 men, for a total of about 350 students, with our coaching camps, junior league, first tee camps,” he said. 

“And it's not only the swing and the putting technique. We're teaching them to be complete golfers; rules, etiquettes, behavior, so that they're good ambassadors for the game.”

While his focus is on his role, Kahlon has already found success on Canadian courses, winning the 2025 PGA of Alberta seniors, shooting 10 under over two days. “It was a good success story to win on Canadian soil,” he said. “It had a big influence on the community at my golf course, because people see your ability to continue to play and succeed.”

Kahlon wants to continue playing at a high level in hopes of inspiring his juniors and improving his coaching skills. “I want to take out the time and discipline to work harder, to play better, and maybe qualify for a couple of Champions Tour events because I think that would be a great endorsement for myself and for our golf club for Broadmoor,” he said.

With an increasingly talented group at the course, Kahlon also has ambitions of having his juniors winning at the provincial and national level – and a dream of connecting his two homes, Canada and India, with a cross-continental tournament.

In a full-circle moment, Kahlon recently met his ex-chairman to catch up – this time, however, Kahlon was on the other side of the India-Canada flight. “Lo and behold, I'm now here in Edmonton, and I went and met [him] a couple of months ago in Calgary, so that was great,” he said. 

While the circle hasn’t closed yet and Kahlon’s golf journey is ongoing, three decades in the sport has shaped his life. On Kahlon’s website, right under his name in bright orange letters, it reads ‘transforming lives through golf’ – but before he could teach someone how to fix a slice, add spin to a chip or nail a putt, golf had transformed his life. 

“The game has led me to where I am today. It's guided me throughout my journey as a kid, as an adult and now here in Canada. It's made me meet some great people and see some of the most beautiful parts of the world” he said.

“It's a lifelong holiday, right? What we do for a living out in the greenery with the environment, helping people, transforming their lives, helping them with the games, I think it's a blessing.