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Manesar
Classic Golf & Country Club organised a workshop for managers on June 14 with industry partners and guest speakers in attendance. Accomplished names from the industry including Dhruv Verma (Founder & CEO – GolfLan Technologies), Rishi Narain (Editor-in-Chief – Golf Digest India & Managing Director – RN Sports Marketing) and Shashank Chaudhary (Director – Sales & Marketing – Callaway India) were present.
The objective was to focus on how all stakeholders could synergise their efforts for the promotion of the game. To this end, the speakers and participants shared their individual perspective and collective observations about the current state of the industry, the factors and forces shaping the future of golf in India, emerging trends and the way forward.
Bengaluru
KGA to hold TAKE Solutions Masters 2018
After successfully hosting the inaugural TAKE Solutions Masters in 2017, Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) is set to stage the Asian Tour event — co-sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) — for a second time next month (August 9-12). This year’s prize purse has increased to US$ 350,000.
Thailand’s Poom Saksansin, who defeated home hope Khalin Joshi by 2 strokes, is the defending champion. He had collected US$ 54,000 (approx. INR 37 lakh) in prize money for his efforts. The tournament featured 150 participants (84 from Asian Tour, 58 from PGTI, and 8 invites). Through this collaboration between TAKE Solutions, Asian Tour and PGTI, at least 40 Indian golfers will have the opportunity to compete against the region’s leading golfers and a win will be rewarded with full playing rights on the Asian Tour until the end of the following season.
Delhi
DGC to organise 8th Panasonic Open India
Shiv Kapur can look forward to defending his title when the US$ 400,000 Panasonic Open India returns to Delhi Golf Club (DGC) on October 25-28. The tournament is one of three official Asian Tour events held in India (others being Hero Indian Open and TAKE Solutions Masters).
India’s Anirban Lahiri won the inaugural edition in 2011 and the event has since seen different winners on each occasion. Besides Lahiri and Kapur, four other Indians have triumphed in the past (Digvijay Singh in 2012, SSP Chawrasia in 2014, Chiragh Kumar in 2015, Mukesh Kumar in 2016). Australia’s Wade Ormsby who won in 2013, is the only non-Indian victor. This year’s prize purse has seen a 13.3% increase from last year.
Noida
All India Seniors Inter-City to debut alongside IGU Seniors & Mid-Am
Played annually on the IGU’s roster, the All India Seniors and Mid-Amateur Tournament will be held at Jaypee Greens, Greater Noida from July 9-13. The maximum permissible handicap is 14.
The new All India Seniors Inter-City Team Amateur Championship will take place simultaneously with the Seniors & Mid-Amateur. The team competition intends to motivate and add another dimension to the tournament and encourage more participation.
The individual seniors event has Over 50, Over 55, Over 60 and Over 65 age divisions with gross prizes and the Mid-Amateur is for ages 35 to 49, again on gross prizes. Based on individual standings, a 6-member team will be selected for the annual Asia Pacific Seniors Championship to be held in Japan in October – November 2018.
Meanwhile, the seniors’ inter-city team competition is open to teams with players over 50 years of age. A city can have more than one four-member team participating. The best 3 scores per day will be counted with prizes in gross and net.