Sandeep Singh Sandhu Champions Senior Golfer of the Year with Simran Singh & Dilip Thomas
The Chandigarh Golf Club played host to India’s leading senior amateurs for the very first time in the AVT Champions Tour finale from March 13-15.
Tournament favourite Sandeep Sandhu, who was playing at his home club, 72-74 (146) to win the Chandigarh leg by seven strokes over Hemanta Panging 72-79 (151).
Sandhu, a winner at the 11th edition at RCGC in Kolkata in Nov. 2022, the 12th edition of the tournament at Oxford Golf Resort in January, and the overall runner-up for the 2021-2022 season, clinched the overall title this time around.
In the age 50-54 category, Ashish Kapoor of Noida emerged winner with rounds of 80-76 (156). In the 55-59 category, P.S. Rathore of Bikaner, the overall winner in 2019, shot 82-79 (161) to win on countback for having a better second round score than John Wilcox of Mumbai and Manav Prakash of Delhi. In the 60-64 category, Bhupender Singh from Delhi emerged the winner by three strokes with rounds of 78-83 (161). In the 65-69 category, G.C. Sharma of Chadigarh shot 78-82 (160) to win by a stroke over Delhi’s Gangesh Khaitan 81-80 (161). In the 70 & Above category, Pune’s Sanjay Kolhatkar shot 85-91 (176) to win by five shots over Venkatesh Murthy Hebbale from Bangalore.
In the four-member team competition, the Delhi team of Deepak Gupta, Sukhbir Singh, Raul
Rai and Padamjit Sandhu totalled 471 to beat the team of Sandeep Sandhu, Jaspreet Bakshi, Kuldip Singh Sandhu & Darvesh Kumar by two shots.
In all, 85 players travelled into Chandigarh to play in the event, including a contingent of 27 players from Delhi NCR alone. A further 11 players from Chandigarh took the final to 96.
Veteran golfer and coach Simran Singh, now 89, was given the ‘Lifetime Contribution Award’ for his service to golf. He changed the way coaching was done in India back in early 1980’s and left a legacy of many successful players and other coaches as well – a true trailblazer.
The tournament also featured participation from five senior ladies. Sunita Dutt won by five shots over Neelam Sihota.
The AVT Champions Tour is a series of four annual tournaments that attracts the best veteran players in the country, including the likes of Asian Games gold medalists Lakshman Singh, Rishi Narain & Amit Luthra, former All India Amateur Champions Ashok Malik and Alan Singh, as well as All-India Senior winners Gangesh Khaitan & Vijay Kumar. Other notable competitors in the over 100-strong fields were 1983 cricket world cup team winning captain Kapil Dev, senior internationals Jaspreet Bakshi, Anil Jule, Ajai Sirohi, Capt Cheema & GC Sharma.
The players competed for the overall title, as well as in various veteran age categories over 50, over 55, over 60, over 65, & over 70. There was a four-member inter-city team event in gross and net categories as well as net prizes in two handicap categories
Overall 2022-23 Tour Champion – Sandeep Sandhu
Chandigarh winners
Overall Winner – Sandeep Sandhu – 146
Overall Runner-Up – Hemanta Panging – 151
Hemanta Panging (RUNNER UP OVERALL) with Dilip Thomas
Age Group Winners
| Category | Player | Score |
|---|---|---|
| 50-54 | Ashish Kapoor | 156 |
| 55-59 | P.S. Rathore | 161 |
| 60-64 | Bhupender Singh | 161 |
| 65-69 | G.C. Sharma | 160 |
| 70& Above | Sanjay Kolhatkar | 176 |
Vikas Ahluwalia (Regional Business Head, AVP, HDFC Asset Managment Company Ltd) & Ashish Kapoor (WINNER – 50-54)
Lt Col HS Chahal (Retd.) President CGC & Bhupender Singh (WINNER 60-64)
G C Sharma (WINNER 65-69) with Sanjay Kolhatkar
Gangesh Khaitan with Sanjay Kolhatkar (WINNER 70 & Above)
Ladies –
Winner – Sunita Dutt
Sunita Dutt receives the Best Ladies Award from Jaydeep Chitlangia (Former President, Indian Golf Union)
Team Results – Gross for 36 holes –
Winners – Padamjit Sandhu, Deepak Gupta, Sukhbir Singh & Raul Rai – 471
L-R – Raul Rai, Deepak Gupta, Sukhbir Singh, Padamjit Sandhu WINNER TEAM GROSS
Runners-Up – Sandeep Sandhu, Jaspreet Bakshi, Kuldip Singh Sandhu & Darvesh Kumar – 473
L-R – Kuldip Sandhu, Sandeep Sandhu, Jaspreet Bakshi RUNNER UP TEAM GROSS
Full results can be viewed here – https://rnsportsmarketing.com/events/avt/chd/2023/