Siddikur Rahman’s Fight and Jamal Hossain’s Rise Reflect a Nation’s Golfing Dreams Golf is a rare sport in Bangladesh – a country far better known for cricket and football – and producing world[1]class golfers here has been almost unheard of. Yet against all odds, a few exceptional talents have emerged to put
Bangladesh on the golfing map. Chief among them are Mohammad Siddikur Rahman and Md Zamal “Jamal” Hossain Mollah, two trailblazing professionals whose careers encapsulate the struggle and hope of Bangladeshi golf. Siddikur, once the nation’s sole golf hero, is now fighting to regain his form, while Jamal is enjoying a late-career surge that is inspiring new dreams. Their intertwined stories – of humble beginnings, hard-won triumphs, and current contrasting fortunes – offer both inspiration and a sobering call to action for nurturing the next generation of golf heroes in Bangladesh.
A Country with Few Golfing Heroes
Bangladesh has no grand golfing tradition to speak of. The country has only a handful of quality courses and a modest pool of players, mostly concentrated around military-run clubs in Dhaka and Chattogram. Until recently, no Bangladeshi golfer had ever won a major international tournament, and sports fans at home barely followed the sport. As one local sports journal noted in 2021, “Bangladesh does not have any mesmerizing history in golf” and so far only one player – Siddikur Rahman – had truly shone on the international stage.This lack of history makes the emergence of Siddikur and Jamal all the more remarkable. Both men come from ordinary backgrounds far removed from the elite country club world one might associate with golf. Their journeys from ball boys at Kurmitola Golf Club to professional champions read like unlikely fairy tales, proving that talent can triumph even in the most challenging environments.
Siddikur Rahman: From Ball Boy to National Icon
Humble Origins: Siddikur Rahman grew up in a poor family and stumbled into golf quite literally – as a ball boy at Dhaka’s Kurmitola Golf Club, where he earned a few taka retrieving balls for wealthy members. Fascinated by the game but unable to afford equipment, the resourceful young Siddikur fashioned his first golf club by attaching a broken iron clubhead to a metal rod. With that improvised club, he taught himself to swing and developed an uncanny skill. “I thought if I can play golf it will be much better than being a ball boy,” Siddikur later recalled of his early dreams. By sheer determination, he rose from caddying to competing, winning a dozen amateur titles across South Asia before turning professional in 2005.
Trailblazing Success: In August 2010, Siddikur Rahman made history by winning the Brunei Open, becoming the first Bangladeshi ever to win on the Asian Tour. The 25-year-old’s playoff victory in Brunei was a breakthrough moment not just for him but for his country. “It is very exciting. I’m the first Bangladeshi to play on the Asian Tour and in two years on Tour, I have finally won a tournament,” he said at the time, adding that “I hope to inspire more people to take up the game of golf in Bangladesh. This is a good victory for me and my country.” Siddikur’s triumph signaled that Bangladesh could produce champions even in this most unlikely sport. He followed it up with another prestigious title at the 2013 Hero Indian Open, outdueling top Indian pros to claim his second Asian Tour win. By consistently contending in events abroad, Siddikur earned a reputation as a steady, fearless competitor. He was often hailed as one of the Asian Tour’s most consistent performers during his prime, notching numerous top-10 finishes year after year.
On the Olympic Stage: Siddikur’s greatest honor came in 2016, when he qualified outright for the Rio de Janeiro Olympics – a feat unimaginable for a Bangladeshi golfer a decade prior. By finishing 56th on the Olympic qualifying list, Siddikur became the first Bangladeshi golfer to earn a direct berth to the Olympics (previous Bangladeshi Olympians in other sports only made it through wild-card entries). Carrying the flag for Bangladesh in golf’s return to the Olympics after 112 years was a proud moment for him and the nation. Though he finished 58th in Rio, Siddikur had already cemented his legacy as a pioneer. Back home, he became a bona fide sports icon – nicknamed the “Tiger of Dhaka” – and was named Bangladesh’s Sportsman of the Year in 2013.
Challenges and Struggles: In recent years, however, Siddikur Rahman’s journey has hit challenging times. Now 40, he has struggled to maintain the same level of performance on the increasingly competitive Asian Tour. Nagging health issues, including a back injury that troubled him for a long time, have affected his consistency. In the 2023 season, Siddikur’s form dipped significantly – he missed several cuts and fell outside the top 60 on the Asian Tour Order of Merit . Consequently, for the first time in over a decade, he lost his full tour card, meaning he can no longer enter all events at will.
“I had opportunities to do well, but I couldn’t keep up my game for four days… I’ve been working on why I couldn’t do well despite getting into good positions,” he told The Daily Star, reflecting on the mental and physical hurdles that derailed his 2023 season.
Determined to revive his career, Siddikur has doubled down on training – even spending off-season weeks in the United States to hone his technique and mental game. Early in 2024, he showed flashes of his old self by making the cut in the Asian Tour’s season opener in Malaysia, finishing a respectable tied-40th. And on home soil, he reminded fans of his class by winning the Radiant Invitational 2025 at Bhatiary Golf Club, Chattogram – a local tournament victory that offered a glimmer of hope that Siddikur can still compete. The road back to the top ranks won’t be easy, but if Siddikur’s career has proven anything, it’s that resilience is one of his defining qualities.
Siddikur Rahman’s Major Milestones
- 2005: Turns professional after a dominant amateur career (12 amateur titles across South Asia).
- 2010: Makes history as the first Bangladeshi to win an Asian Tour event, triumphing at the Brunei Open in a playoff
- 2013: Captures the Hero Indian Open in New Delhi, his second Asian Tour title, further solidifying his regional stature.
- 2016: Qualifies for the Rio Olympics, becoming the first Bangladeshi golfer to compete in the Games – a landmark moment for Bangladesh sports.
- 2025: Wins the Radiant Invitational on home turf, demonstrating enduring skill and inspiring a new generation of local golfers (Bhatiary G&CC, Chattogram).
Jamal Hossain Mollah: Carrying the Torch
While Siddikur was blazing trails, Jamal Hossain Mollah – known simply as Jamal to friends and
fans – was quietly plotting his own ascent. Jamal hails from a village in Kishoreganj and shares a similar
Cinderella story. As a boy of 10, he showed up at Kurmitola Golf Club, the same military course where Siddikur learned the game, and took a job as a ball boy fetching stray balls. “I fell in love with golf. I used to dream of becoming a golfer like Tiger Woods,” Jamal recalls of those early days when he and a few other caddie-boys would watch members play and fantasize about swinging clubs themselves. In fact, Jamal and two peers (future golfers Dulal Hossain and Zakir Hossain) were such promising youngsters that club officials eventually took notice and provided coaching and sponsorship to nurture their talent.
Early Promise: Jamal’s first taste of the spotlight came at the 2010 South Asian Games in Dhaka. Still a teenager, he helped Bangladesh achieve an unprecedented clean sweep of golf medals. Jamal earned individual silver while his close friend Dulal took gold, and together with teammates they clinched the team gold for Bangladesh.
It was a stunning moment – “Rags to riches success stories are not common in Bangladesh, but the meteoric rise of Dulal, Jamal and Zakir…is just one such classic tale,” wrote The Daily Star back then. The trio of former ball boys had proved they could beat the region’s best, igniting hopes that Bangladesh’s golf future might be brighter.
Hard Climb to the Pros: Turning professional in 2011, Jamal found the going much tougher on the pro circuit than in amateur events. For years he toiled mostly in the shadow of Siddikur’s success, struggling to make cuts and lacking the funding to travel extensively. His first professional win did not come until 2019 – nearly eight years into his pro career – when he triumphed at the Bengal Open in Kolkata, a tournament on the Indian Tour (PGTI). That victory was a breakthrough, making Jamal only the second Bangladeshi (after Siddikur) to win a PGTI title abroad. It also wasn’t Jamal’s first taste of victory on that tour; interestingly, he holds the distinction of being the first player ever to win on the PGTI as an amateur, having shockingly won the Bangladesh Open back in 2009 while he was still an amateur teenager. This early feat had marked him as a prodigy, but converting youthful promise into consistent pro success proved to be a long, patient grind.
Resurgence and Success: In the last couple of years, Jamal Hossain’s persistence has paid off in a big way. After a four year title drought, he roared back to winning form in 2023 by clinching the Ahmedabad Open in India – the second time he won that event, but his first tour victory since 2019. That emotional win, achieved with a gutsy final round on the Glade One Resort course, broke the dry spell and “made his Eid celebration special,” as Bangladeshi media proudly reported. More importantly, it signaled a career renaissance for Jamal at age 38. He carried that momentum into an outstanding 2024 season, which turned out to be the most prolific of his career. Jamal notched several top finishes on the Professional Golf Tour of India and at home, showcasing a new level of consistency and excellence. The capstone came in November 2024, when Jamal won the IndianOil Servo Masters Golf Tournament in Assam, sealing victory with a clutch one-under-par final round. This triumph was Jamal’s fifth title on the PGTI tour, a remarkable tally that firmly established him as Bangladesh’s second golf star after Siddikur. He posted a 12-under total to win by one stroke, boosting him to 17th in the PGTI’s season rankings and earning a tidy prize purse of over $15,000. Jamal’s 2024 highlights didn’t end there: he also secured a runner-up finish at the Vishwa Samudra Open and a top-10 at the Jaipur Open in India, and he dominated a major domestic event (the Paragon Open in Dhaka) with a blistering 19-under score. Each result underscored his resilience and skill, the qualities that have made him, at long last, a key figure in Bangladeshi golf.
From being an overlooked journeyman a few years ago, Jamal Hossain Mollah has now stepped out of Siddikur’s shadow to carry the torch for Bangladesh. His rise has been later than expected, but perhaps that makes it even more gratifying. In Jamal’s own words after one of his victories: “I played my wedges and chip shots to perfection today… I just focused on keeping it in play,” he said, describing the calm, methodical approach that has become his trademark. That calm determination has seen Jamal emerge as the new standard-bearer for his country on the fairways of Asia.
Two Journeys, One Message
The stories of Siddikur Rahman and Jamal Hossain Mollah intertwine as chapters in a larger narrative: they are pioneers in a land of precious few golfers. Both men rose from the same Kurmitola grounds, overcoming economic hardship and obscurity to achieve things no Bangladeshis had done before. They have lifted trophies abroad, stood on podiums, and brought honor to a country that once had no place in the golfing world. Siddikur’s early success undoubtedly paved the way – he proved a Bangladeshi could compete with Asia’s best, inspiring younger players like Jamal to believe in their own potential. Jamal’s recent achievements, in turn, have shown that Siddikur was not a one-off miracle, that there is a second chapter to Bangladesh’s golf saga and hopefully more to come.Yet, the contrasting phases of their careers right now also carry a cautionary undertone. As Jamal thrives at age 39, Siddikur at 40 finds himself struggling to regain lost ground. Golf is a fickle game; without proper support structures, even the brightest talents can fade. Bangladesh cannot rely on individual heroics alone to sustain success. The rise of these two golfers has exposed the lack of a robust pipeline for developing new talent. In Siddikur’s assessment, despite his own accomplishments, Bangladesh’s golf scene has in some ways “gone back to where it was 20 years ago” – a startling statement on the stagnation in infrastructure and investment. Prize money in local tournaments remains low and sponsorships are scarce, which means young athletes have little incentive or opportunity to take up golf professionally. “If you can’t get sponsors, the sport will suffer and players will not come out,” Siddikur warned pointedly.
A Call to Nurture New Golf Heroes
Both Siddikur and Jamal agree that their success stories should not remain rare exceptions. For Bangladesh to truly go “golf and beyond,” there must be a concerted national effort to nurture the next generation. This means more junior programs to introduce kids to golf, better access to public courses (beyond the elite club circles), and financial support for talented players who cannot afford training or travel. It means corporate sponsors stepping up to fund tournaments with meaningful prize money, so that emerging golfers can gain competitive experience at home before facing international circuits. It also means honoring and learning from the contributions of trailblazers like Siddikur and Jamal – leveraging their knowledge to coach youth and promote the game across the country. As it stands, Siddikur Rahman and Jamal Hossain Mollah have carried Bangladesh’s golf ambitions almost single handedly for the past decade. They have shown what is possible through grit and perseverance. Their journeys – one continuing to fight against the odds, another reaching new heights – together inspire an entire nation’s sporting dreams. Now is the time for Bangladesh to ensure those dreams do not fade. With proper support, the country can produce more Siddikurs and Jamals in the future, writing new chapters in this unlikely success story. It is both a hope and a challenge: Bangladesh must act now to cultivate its homegrown golf talent, so that these two pioneers are just the beginning of a proud legacy, not the end. The fairway has been opened; the next swing is up to us. “We need support… Without it, players will not come out,” says Siddikur, urging the nation to rally behind its golfers. His call echoes louder than ever. It’s time to move forward so that Bangladesh’s next golf hero isn’t such a rarity – and might even be waiting in the wings, ready to tee off.
