Dear Readers,
In the aftermath of the Olympics, both Aditi Ashok and Anirban Lahiri immediately resumed action on the LPGA and PGA Tours respectively. The good news is that men’s and women’s Indian pro tours will restart in September. The Indian Golf Union is also making plans to restart the National Amateur Tournaments with particular emphasis on staging the annual All India Championships for Ladies, Men, Junior boys, Junior Girls and Seniors before the end of December.
If all goes well, we hope the Hero Indian Open can return in 2022. Word is that late February or early March are being considered and the venue will continue as DLF GC in Gurgaon. For the European Tour, it’s a difficult decision because there is no clarity on what the policy will be for foreigners to travel to India, whether another wave of rising cases may come up between now and then and whether players will feel safe to travel to India, considering the negative publicity surrounding the 2nd wave. We shall wait and watch.
In the meanwhile, it is good to note that privately organised junior tournaments have re-started; clubs like Royal Calcutta are conducting or scheduling their internal league tournaments and generally golf clubs are quite busy.
We would like to thank the 200 readers who responded to the “Playing Habits survey” we sent out last week in partnership with Sports Marketing Surveys of UK. The data and trends thus collected will provide the industry with some insights and guidance to plan the future.
Meanwhile, please keep sending your feedback on mail – these are welcome and much appreciated and each message will be acknowledged.
Warm Regards,
Rishi Narain