Gangesh Khaitan’s over 50 years of competitive golf experience will prove invaluable at the APGC Seniors
The Indian Golf Union has nominated the evergreen Gangesh Khaitan as the Team captain of the 2024 Asia Pacific Golf Confederation Seniors Golf Championship to be held at Vinpearl Golf Resort, Haiphong, Vietnam from 30 Oct to 01 Nov 2024.
The four-member team consists of Chandigarh’s Sandeep Sandhu, based on him winning the recently held IGU All India Senior Championship at Noida golf Club, the All India runner up Gaurav Ghosh of RCGC, Kolkata, 3rd placed Col Hemanta Panging from Dehradun and Gangesh Khaitan from Jaypee Greens.
Sandeep Sandhu has proved to be the consistent No 1 senior golfer ( over age 55) amateur player in the country, winning several titles on the AVT Senior tour while Gaurav Ghosh won the All India Seniors in 2023.
Gangesh Khaitan’s achievement however defies belief. At age 71, Gangesh has now rewritten his feat in Limca Book of Records, having represented India for 56 years, having first gone to the World Juniors at age 15 !
He has undergone shoulder surgeries and undergone various health challenges in recent times but has overcome them through steely discipline and willpower, practicing daily as soon as his health allowed him. He was not even expected to be able to enter the All India seniors much less finish 4th and qualify for the team yet again. This would be approximately the 15th year that Gangesh would be at the APGC seniors, perhaps a record internationally.
Vinpearl is a course that favours straight hitting and was the venue for the Asia Pacific men’s international team amateur championship last week where India finished 8th and Vietnam scored a historic victory.
We wish the Indian team and Gangesh all the best as they depart for Vietnam.