From L-R – Samant Sikka, Dr. Alkesh Chaudhary, Arun Murugappan (Executive Chairman, Tube Investment of India Ltd., Murugappa group), R. Rajagopal and Vijay Thomas
The third of four regional qualifiers of the 23rd annual Chola World Corporate Golf Challenge – India was held at Qutab GC in Delhi with four winners Samant Sikka, Vijay Thomas, R. Raju Gopal and Dr. Alkesh Chaudhary booked spots at the National Final to be held in Thailand in summer, 2024.
From the national final, eventually two players from the 16 finalists will be selected to represent corporate India at the World Finals of the World Corporate Golf Challenge World Final, to be held in Europe where they compete with winners of 30 country qualifiers for the opportunity to be crowned World Champions.
Last month, in Bangalore, NP Thimmaiah, Subhasish Ghosh, lady golfer Anupama Vatal, and Vivek Varma secured their spots at Prestige Golfshire. And then Pramod Bhambani, Bharti Purker, Rahul Dalwani & Abhay Kanoria won in Mumbai last week.
Indian teams have won two WCGC world titles – the last one coming in 2016 when Shashidhar Reddy and Sonam Chugh won in Cascais, Portugal.
A month ago the team of Ajay Reddy from Hyderabad and Ajay Kasana from Delhi participated at the 2023 WCGC World Finals held in Tenerife, Spain.
Play in each regional rounds is in individual stableford format in two handicap categories. Live scoring on mobile phones with a live leaderboard provided not only excitement but also transparency and fair results, giving the participants the feeling of playing a professional level event.
Results
Winners – Entry to National finals
Category Name Points
Winner 0-17 Samant Sikka 41
From L-R – Seher Atwal, Samant Sikka (Winner 0-17) and Arun Murugappan
Winner 18-24 Vijay Thomas 39
From L-R – Seher Atwal, Vijay Thomas (Winner – 18-24) receiving award from Arun Murugappan
Runners-Up – Entry to National Finals
Category Name Points
Runner-Up 0-17 . Raju Gopal 39
Runner-Up 18-24 Dr. Alkesh Chaudhary 37
From L-R – Seher Atwal, Dr. Alkesh Chaudhary (Runner-Up 18-24) presented with his trophy by Arun Murugappan
AUDI Most Electrifying Player (Best Gross)
Winner Harsh Gupta 29 points
Harsh Gupta (WINNER – Best Gross) presented with a golf bag by Anuj Sharma (Regional Manager, AUDI)
ON COURSE CONTESTS
Category Name Measurements
Hole in One Amit Khansaheb Hole 14
Amit Khansaheb (WINNER – Hole in One) presented with a wedge by Arun Murugappan
Chola Straightest Drive #1 Arjun Sharma 2ft
Khyber Closest to Pin #6 Elise Clarke 22ft
Firdous Bhat (Khyber Manager – Reservation) with Elise Clarke (Winner – Closest to Pin)
Audi Closest to Pin #10 Ajay Kasana 5ft
Ajay Kasana (Winner – AUDI Closest to Pin) presented by Anuj Sharma (AUDI – Regional Manager)
Savills Closest to Pin #13 Vikas Gupta 3ft
Vikas Gupta (Winner- Savills Closest to Pin) presented by Anurag Mathur (CEO, Savills Property Services)
Grant Thornton Closest to Pin #14 Sanjay Datta 5ft
Sanjay Datta (WINNER – Grant Thornton Closest to Pin) presented by Soumya Palchoudhuri (Partner, Market Ecosystems, Grant Thornton Bharat)