Vignesh began to play golf at the age of 4 and his first golf kit was presented to him by his grandfather V.Jagannathan who had been an avid golfer until the age of 78. He won his first trophy at the age of 5 in Kodaikanal and has never looked back since. Vignesh is the son of sporting parents and has taken very well after them. Both his parents E.Ranga Rao and Shanthi have been shuttle champions in their own right and his mother continues to train about 36 kids everyday at the Cosmopolitan Club in Race Course. Vignesh did his entire education in India from the GRG Matriculation Higher Secondary School at Peelamedu and began to excel both in tennis and golf from his childhood. Motivated by his paternal grandfather R.Ethirajulu of Ramalakshmi Mills, Vignesh began playing tennis with the coach Sam Mohan at the Coimbatore Club and came out with flying colours at the district level by winning a number of tournaments.
Golf and tennis took up much of his time and therefore young Vignesh chose the former for he found it to be more promising. The elders in his family were a great support and his committed mother Shanthi Ranga Rao accompanied him to all his golf training programmes and matches all around the world. Vignesh was his humble self while sharing details pertaining to his exploits, "I have had a hole in one on 4 occassions and the first time was when I was just 13 years old. On one occasion it was while playing the Asia Pacific Junior at Fiji. I have won around 250 trophies by participating in several tournaments over the years. I have won the Palani Hills Open 6 times, Servall Open 6 times, Eltex Open 8 times and have been awarded the Year's Best Golfer 7 times and I managed to secure the Lowest Score Gross 8 times. I am among the top winners in the amateur category from the south." He happens to be the best in Tamilnadu.
Vignesh did his higher schooling at the world famous Kooralybn International School at Brisbane in Australia. The schooling pattern and curriculum are an eye opener. "Golf was a part of the curriculum and the day used to begin by 7 am at the academic section of the school and get over by 1 pm. Thereafter we used to play golf between 2 pm and 6 pm everyday. I was a constant winner at the inter school tournaments while in Australia. There was always a Special Aptitude Programme for golf at the school and a lot of sports celebrities are from this place. The Olympic Gold Medalist Cathay Freeman studied in the same school my senior Adam Scott is ranked 6th internationally in golf. The PGA tour player Steven Bowdich was my classmate. Thanks to my Australian experience, I was able to meet a number of international sports champions . "stated Vignesh as a matter of fact.
The golf champion has played in most of the important golf courses in India which include Kodaikanal, Coimbatore, Wellington, Ooty, Bengaluru, Greg Norman course in Noida, Jack Nicholas course in Gurgaon and in over 50 courses around the world. He was the first Indian to play the World Junior Golf Tournament at Torrypines in California. The other important courses visited by him include Laquinta in Italy and Mount Woodson in the United States of America. Vignesh was mentored by his grandfather V. Jagannathan at the beginning and he has been a keen self learner too. He has attended a couple of camps and the one at Italy under Alicia stands out and it was for about 2 weeks. His mother and grandfather had accompanied him for the camp at Italy. Vignesh has been consistent with his golf kit and he continues to use the brand 'Taylormade Burner Bubbleshaft' from his childhood. "My grandfather V.Jagannathan was my great support and the man who put Coimbatore on the golf map G.K.Rajagopal (GKR) mentored me in a big way. GKR was also the President of the Indian Golf Union. I had played with both my mentors several times. I continue to cherish the day when I played 80 holes of golf on a single day when my grandfather turned 80 on the 9 th of March 2012 and my mom walked the last 18 holes." added a jubilant Vignesh.
Vignesh is a multi faceted person and one of his facets is his business Super Springs which is located at Muthukoundanoor in Coimbatore district. The company is into sheet metal fabrication and supplies parts to the automobile, textile and engineering industries. He is a regular at his factory while playing golf 3 days a week at the Coimbatore Golf Club and he spends his summers at Kodaikanal playing his favourite game. He holds a B.S degree in Business Management from San Deigo in the US.
Vishwaa happens to be the screen name of Vignesh the Actor and he is awaiting the release of his movie "Uthra" shortly. The movie is directed by Naveen who happens to be an assistant of K.S.Ravikumar and the Music for the suspense thriller is by Sai. The Co Stars are Roshni and Sindhu. The movie is being produced by RK Digital Media and the processing work is on at the moment. B.Rangaswamy Naidu, the great grandfather of Vishwaa/Vignesh was the owner of Central Studios which had given a number of super duper hits during the formative era of Tamil cinema.
The people from the world of sport, business and the tinsel world as well can expect a lot more from Vignesh in the future.