27-year-old jeweller Shreyas Cotha has a prized collection of over 200 rare golf balls

BENGALURU: Shreyas V Cotha owns 200 exclusive and limited edition balls.
Homes fashionably wear paintings, wall installations, books and family portraits. However, the central wall of Shreyas V Cotha's home in Ulsoor narrates an offbeat story. It adorns an imposing wooden cabinet dotted with Cotha's unique collection of... golf balls! The businessman and golfer pursues a rare hobby of collecting unusual golf balls.

Gathered over a decade, he owns 200 exclusive and limited-edition ones. "It is a great conversation starter," says the 27-year-old director of C Krishniah Chetty & Sons, a 145-year-old gems and jewellery enterprise.

Peruse the cabinet and you will find a variety of dimpled beauties.The one wrapped in 24-carat gold foil was purchased from Australia when Cotha was studying business management at Babson Business School.Another golf ball glows in the dark -something he purchased during a night tournament at the Karnataka Golf Association, where he checks in twice a week. A ball dons a picture of a globe around it.

Then come the series of exclusive logo balls from by-invite tournaments and prominent golf courses across the world. Thus, there is a logo ball from St Andrews, the oldest golf course in the world, located in Scotland. Golf balls of car tournaments like BMW , Audi and Mercedes sit proudly too.

"People collect stamps and coins.My collection is an expression of my golfing life," says Cotha, who was introduced to the game at the age of 12 and the accompanying hobby by his illustrious father Vinod Hayagriv. "Each golf ball in my collection comes with a story and a memory," the hobby player (with a handicap of 12) adds. For instance, the golf ball from a tournament in Pennsylvania is most special. "I lost my cell phone. Next day, I got a call from the course crew who found my phone under a cherry tree. I bought their golf ball as a reminder," recalls Cotha, a fan of golfers Tiger Woods and Sharmila Nicollet.

Cotha's game has just begun. In other words, his collection is just in "inception" stage. "I want to acquire valuable golf balls from all car-sponsored tournaments because they are by-invite and it's a privilege to play for them. I am eyeing one from the Lamborghini tournament."

On Cotha's unique passion, avid golfer and certified coach Bamby Randhawa says, "Being a regular in the golfing world, the hobby for collecting golf balls and a number of 200 is a first to me. He must be indeed passionate about the game."

Randhawa speaks of how the golf ball has undergone much evolution."From 1.62 mm and 333 dimples in 1970s, we have moved to 1.68 mm and 500 dimples for better flight. Today you get balls with different dimple styles and depths, compression element, materials and solid or liquid insides," the celebrity coach adds.

Meanwhile, Cotha has not put a target number. But a diamond-studded golf ball is a definite on this jeweller's bucket list.