From golf to pickleball and apparel, Vikkash aims high

Like his enterprising dad, Vikkash Babu is also a man of many talents.

But unlike his self-made father who has been through thick and thin prior to and during his marine industry business, he has two people to lean on.

Vikkash, 30, is a professional golfer whose dad M S Maniam is founder of Seagull Marine and mum Vasandamallar is the company’s co-founder and executive director who manages its finances.

Founded in 2003, the company’s core business is ship repair, marine fabrication and subsea equipment manufacturing.

Maniam, a former single-handicapper and a Boon Lay youth hockey player, has weathered many storms in the turbulent marine industry and come out ahead.

He has also helped out in many charitable programmes and even today steps forward forthrightly to support friends in need of help.

Vikkash aspires to absorb the good qualities of his father and sees his mum as a good role model.

He was a leading national golfer but became interested in running a business as an understudy to his dad.

Vikkash also runs a pickleball business that includes owning courts at Warren Golf and Country Club and in Kuala Lumpur.

He said: “My parents have always taught us (also my two brothers) good values and want us to succeed in life. They have always stood by us.”

And related to his business in pickleball, a relatively fast-growing sport worldwide, he is planning to run a product and equipment company with his links to American manufacturers.

The seeds for this venture have already been planted with his shop in Rangoon Road – which also has a golf simulator – as well as his regular travels around the region to promote the sport.

He is sharpening his business acumen at his dad’s shipping business and travels regularly to their factory in Batam, where he also doubles up as a golf buddy to his dad’s clients through social games.

Said Maniam, 64: “As customer relationship director and a shareholder in PT Seagull Offshore and Marine Indonesia, Vikkash’s role is to retain and build long-term relationships via golf with clients in Jakarta, Bandung and Batam.”

In the next few months, Vikkash intends to ship carbon-fibre pickleball paddles from the United States and push his brand, Titan Strike.

And, of course, he aims to continue pushing his business in high-quality golf caps and apparel manufactured in Vietnam.

The bookings for his courts in Warren are full in the evenings, and he sees a bright future for the pickleball business, a sport estimated to having risen exponentially to about 5,000 active players nationwide.

However, golf remains close to his heart and he plans to have a stint at the China Professional Golf Tour.

With an average 270m drive and a reliable short game, Vikkash – who picked up the game at five – believes that he can still deliver on the fairways and greens.

He has played in six Asian Tour events and twice each at the Singapore Open and International Series and continues to play and train at Warren, Tanah Merah Country Club and Palm Springs in Batam.

Vikkash is also coach and selector for the Seagull Marine team in The Straits Times and Business Times Corporate Golf League.

He said: “I know that we did not fare too well early this year, but we’ll be a different team next year.

“We hope to get some good players but our focus will still remain to reward our business clients with games in the league, which is a great networking platform.”

The writer is a former sports editor of The Straits Times and has been writing about golf and sports for more than 55 years.