ENCOURAGING TALENT
Over the past few years, the golfing community across the country has been debating which is the nation’s golfing capital. Golfers from Kolkata dominated the early 80s and 90s, at the turn of the new century it was Delhi and the tide now seems to be moving towards Bengaluru. It is hard to dispute this fact.
Bengaluru boasts world-class golf courses like Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) and no other city in the country has ideal weather conditions throughout the year for golf. And interestingly, the top-2 Indian golfers in the world, Anirban Lahiri and Aditi Ashok, hail from Bengaluru.
Karnataka Golf Association will host the Faldo Series India final 2018; image courtesy: Prabhash Thakur
Over the years, KGA has hosted the Indian Open (2012), 2 editions of the Asia vs Europe Amateur team golf event and the Karnataka Golf Festival. 2017 proved to be a remarkable year for the club as it hosted the inaugural US$ 300,000 TAKE Masters on the Asian Tour and the Rs 1 crore Bengaluru Golf Open on the PGTI circuit along with the Karnataka Golf Festival. The KGA is all set to host the 117th All India Amateur Championship from December 4 to 10 and the Faldo Series India Final in January 2018.
Talented golfers Khalin Joshi, C. Muniyappa, Sharmila Nicollet are some of the prominent names who have come from KGA Academy and have made a name for themselves on the professional circuit.
With KGA staging the upcoming Faldo Series India Final at the dawn of 2018, the club has shown that it is certainly among the nation’s premier talent pools.
ELIGIBILITY:
The top-10 ranked players on the IGU Merit List in each of the following categories (Boys: Under 16, 18 & 21. Girls: Under 16 & 21) will compete for a coveted spot to represent India at the Faldo Series Asia Grand Final at Danang, Vietnam in March 2018.
The series is supported by golf’s governing bodies the R&A, European Tour, Ladies European Tour, Asian Tour and Asia-Pacific Golf Confederation; 40 annual national qualifying tournaments now take place in over 30 countries worldwide, across Europe, the Middle East, Asia, North and South America.
Over the years, Indian junior golfers have tasted success at the Faldo Series. Rashid Khan won the Asian Finals twice, in 2007 and 2009, Abhijit Chadha in 2011, and – most recently – Arjun Prasad in 2015. Notable winners of the Faldo series over the years have been superstars Rory McIlroy, Yani Tseng on the LPGA Tour, and young sensation Carly Booth.
The Faldo Series Asia will be marketed by Rishi Narain Sports Marketing.
(Read more in the December issue of Golf Digest India. Download here.)