Kolkata, March 20, 2017: The Kolkata Classic Golf
Championship is set to return for its second edition at the historic Royal
Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) from March 21, 2017. The Kolkata Classic, the
fourth event of the Professional Golf Tour of India’s (PGTI) 2017 season,
carries a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh. The tournament will be played fromMarch
21 to 24 with the Pro-Am event scheduled for March 25.
Alcove and LIC are the Associate Sponsors of the Kolkata
Classic 2017. The Official Partners of the tournament include Flamingos,
Halmari, Oak Gallerie and Veeba. Balaji Ads is the Outdoor Media Partner.
The tournament brings together some of India’s leading
professionals such as reigning Indian Open champion and local lad SSP
Chawrasia, Asian Tour regulars Rashid Khan (2016 PGTI Order of Merit champion),
Chikkarangappa, Mukesh Kumar, Chiragh Kumar, as well as winners from the
current PGTI season Ajeetesh Sandhu (2017 PGTI Order of Merit leader), Udayan
Mane and Honey Baisoya. The foreign challenge will be led by the Sri Lankan
trio of Mithun Perera, Anura Rohana and N Thangaraja
as well as Australian Kunal Bhasin.
Besides Chawrasia, the field also features other prominent
names from Kolkata such as Shankar Das (2014 PGTI Order of Merit champion),
former Indian Open champion Feroz Ali Mollah, Divyanshu Bajaj and rookie Viraj
Madappa.
This is a 72-hole stroke-play tournament featuring a field
of 126 professionals. The cut will be applied after the first 36 holes. The top
50 players and ties will make the halfway cut and continue to play for another
36 holes.
Olympian SSP Chawrasia returns to his home course RCGC fresh
from a remarkable second straight Indian Open triumph in Gurgaon two weeks
back. The local favourite, who now has four European Tour titles to his credit,
said, “I’ve had a great start to the season with victory at the Indian Open. It
was a very special week for me as I won the coveted title for the second year
running. I’m now delighted to be playing at my home course once again.
“I took a break from golf last week and didn’t practice at
all. All my friends here at RCGC who watched me win the Indian Open on TV have
been reliving the experience with me over the last week by discussing my
performance and congratulating me.
“I’m excited about playing the Kolkata Classic. The
tournament will go a long way in further promoting the sport in Kolkata. The
field is quite strong this year with the likes of Rashid, Chikka and Chiragh
participating. All of them have done well on the Asian Tour in the recent past.
One can expect a pulsating contest. The RCGC course looks in great shape as
always and one will require a good all round game to perform well here.”
Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “The Kolkata
Classic provides us an ideal platform to further grow professional golf in the
city of Kolkata which has over the years produced numerous players of
international repute. The presence of big names in the field such as
newly-crowned Indian Open champion SSP Chawrasia, Rashid Khan and
Chikkarangappa make for an exciting week of golf. We wish the players all the
best.”
Mr. Yashaswi Shroff, Director of Alcove Realty, the
Associate Sponsors of the tournament, said, “The tournament is a great platform
for young golfers for boosting their game and to make them more competitive.
They get an opportunity to play with ace golfers such as SSP Chawrasia and
Rashid Khan and their likes. The handsome prize purse on offer is a great
incentive for the golfers."
The venue for the tournament, the world-renowned Royal
Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC), is steeped in history, being the oldest golf club
outside of the British Isles , having been
established in 1829. It is widely regarded as the founder of the game in the
country and has staged some of the most prestigious tournaments on Indian soil,
including the Indian Open and the All India Amateur Championship. The 7237-yard
course favours long hitters and inaccurate shots are punished severely. The
large number of water hazards makes this course a real challenge to master.
Picture caption: Professionals SSP Chawrasia (3rd from left) and Udayan Mane
(4th from left) pose with the trophy. Also seen in the picture are Mr. Uttam
Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI (3rd from right), Mr. Gaurav Ghosh, General Committee
Member, RCGC (2nd from right), Col. Devrishi Singhal (Retd.), CEO, RCGC
(extreme right), Mr. Yashaswi Shroff, Director, Alcove (2nd from left) and Mr.
Prashant Jalan, Partner, Flamingos Sports LLP (extreme left).
PGTI release and photo
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