Senior amateurs tested at Royal Calcutta GC

Sandeep Sandhu (Overall winner) with Dilip Thomas

The Royal Calcutta Golf Club proved to be a stern challenge again for players in the AVT Champion’s Tour’s Kolkata leg. Sandeep Sandhu of Chandigarh clinched the overall title with rounds of 75-73 (148) with defending champion, local Sanjeev Mehra finishing second, three shots behind Sandhu.

Besides the championship title, the players competed for titles in age categories under 55, under 60, under 65, and under 70.

In the age category 50-54, Gaurav Ghosh of RCGC tied with Ashish Kapoor of Noida GC but won on the better 2nd day score.

In the 55-59 category, RCGC players finished 1st and 2nd as Jaideep Singh beat Sudeep Chitlangia.

In the 60-64, Rishi Narain (DLF GC) finished comfortably ahead of Vincent Pinto ( Oxford GC) .

In the 65-69 category, Gangesh Khaitan ( Jaypee Greens, Greater Noida) produced a stellar 2nd day 76 to win over RCGC’s Ashit Luthra.

In the 70 and above category who played off the yellow tees, the evergreen Asian Games Gold Medallist and Arjuna Awardee Lakshman Singh won by a wide margin.

The Kolkata event saw 85 players fly in from outstation to compete in this much sought after new tour on the Indian golf landscape.

The best veteran players in the country compete regularly on the AVT Champions Tour including the 1983 cricket world cup team winning captain Kapil Dev. Other illustrious players in the field for this edition included former Asian Games gold medalists Lakshman Singh and Rishi Narain, former All India Senior’s Champions Gangesh Khaitan, Sanjay Kolhatkar & Vijay Kumar besides internationals David D Souza, Jaspreet Bakshi, Ajai Sirohi and Col. GC Sharma of Chandigarh and Col. Anil Jule of Delhi.

The next event in the series takes place January 17-19th 2023 at Oxford Golf Resort in Pune followed by Chandigarh in March.