Ali Sher, Shaaban Hussin lead their teams to victory at Pro-Am event

 Morning session winners - Ali Sher's team

Afternoon session winners - Shaaban Hussin's team

New Delhi, March 10, 2013: The Pro-Am event of the SAIL-SBI Open 2013 provided amateur golfers from the capital an opportunity to tee-off along with some of the top professional golfers in Asia.

The Pro-Am was played in the modified scramble format where the team’s best net score on each hole was counted towards the team score.

In the morning session, PGTI member Ali Sher led his team to victory with a score of -21. Ali Sher’s team comprised of amateurs Ms. Geeta Rai, Ms. Veera Singh, Ms. Poonam Chawla and Mr. Gandhrav Kohli.

PGTI member Vijay Kumar’s team was second with a score of -20. Vijay’s team comprised of amateurs Mr. R Kumar, Mr. Vishal Chaudhry, Mr. Didharth Chaudhry and Ms. Amita Jalta.

PGTI member Mukesh Kumar’s team comprising of amateurs Mr. P K Misra, Mr. Rajiv Mehrishi, Mr. Vinod Mishra and Mr. Vipin Malik finished third. Their team score was -20. Mukesh Kumar’s team lost out to Vijay Kumar’s team on the basis of a count-back.

In the afternoon session, Malaysian professional Shaaban Hussin led his team to victory with a score of -24. Shaaban’s team comprised of amateurs Mr. Dinkar Makla, Mr. Nikhil Kumar, Mr. Prashant Jain and Mr. Anshul.

PGTI member Ashok Kumar’s team finished second with a score of -22. His team comprised of amateurs Mr. J S Naurath, Mr. M D Sinha, Mr. Kulvinder Singh and Mr. Vishal Bakshi.

PGTI member Vinod Kumar’s team comprising of amateurs Mr. Manu Rajan, Mr. Tuhin Verma, Mr. S K Sood and Mr. Nirbhay Sharma finished third. Their team score was -20.

Press release 

Rookie Joshi and Chapchai share lead in SAIL-SBI Open golf

New Delhi, March 6, 2013: Rookie Khalin Joshi got off to a dream debut on the Asian Tour with a six-under 66 on his first day of the SAIL-SBI Open presented by Incredible India, Ministry of Tourism, as he shared the lead with former champion and world record holder, Thailand’s Chapchai Nirat in the first round of the tournament that got underway at the fabulous Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday.

Chapchai and Joshi lead by one shot over Qualifying School winner Chan Kim of the United States.

Chapchai launched his quest to end a four-year winless and snared eight birdies against two bogeys in the morning session. In the afternoon he was joined by Joshi at the top. Joshi, the top Indian Amateur in 2012, turned pro at the start of the year and on Wednesday he had nine birdied against three bogeys on a day he called as ‘dream debut’.

Chiragh Kumar shot a solid 68 to share third place with Bangladeshi Siddikur while Shiv Kapur (69) failed to capitalise on his magnificent outward 29 when he came home in 40 after taking a quadruple bogey eight on the sixth hole. Manav Jaini, another DGC star, who has some excellent finishes in Asian Tour events at his home course, also carded a creditable 69.

Defending champion Anirban Lahiri started with a sedate one-under 71, while Rikard Karlberg champion in 2010 shot even par 72. Four-time Asian Tour winner, Gaganjeet Bhullar went three-over 75.

Khalin Joshi was ecstatic with his round. He said, “It was a great start, but I will take it. I putted really well today. I’ve been hitting the ball well the past few weeks but the putter was hot today, made quite a few. Hit a great tee shot on seven to two inches, wish it was a hole in one but its okay.”

The young Bangalorean added, “I’m going to approach the rest of the week like how I did today, just play within myself. This is the first week I am not playing with my driver. I’ll do that the whole week. Just keep the same attitude.”

Speaking of his fellow Bangalorean, Anirban Lahiri, the defending champion, Joshi said, “Anirban is a great friend of mine and I look up to him. I’m looking forward to doing something this week. It will mean the world to me, if I can win my first Asian Tour tournament as a pro. I’m looking forward to it.”

Joshi, who turned pro at the start of the season, added, “I feel I was ready to turn pro, so I did that, since I had some very seasons as an amateur. Last year, I was number one on the amateur tour. I played for Indian junior and amateur team for six years. Shot a 62 at my home course at the KGA in Bangalore last year. Finished third in the Nomura Cup was a good thing. So, the decision to turn pro was natural.”


The 29-year-old Chapchai, whose last victory was in the SAIL-SBI Open in 2009 when he set a new world record for 72-holes with his winning 32-under-par 256 total, wielded a hot putter to move up the leaderboard.

 “My putting was very good today. I made a lot of one putts out there, probably took 27 or 28 putts,” said Chapchai, who played alongside Kapur.

“Shiv played well on our front nine (on the back) and then I played well coming in. I stuck to my game plan. It’s a tough course as the fairways are small. But if you can hit fairways, you can make birdies as you’ve probably got a short iron into the greens.”

His only disappointing was two three-putt bogeys at the 10th and ninth holes. “I started on 10 with a three putt and finished at nine with a three putt, so that was not so good. But it was still pretty good overall. I stuck to my new putting routine and didn’t take too much time over my putts. I feel confident for the rest of the week,” said Chapchai, who is seeking a fourth Asian Tour title.

Chan produced two chip-in birdies as he moved into contention in what is his rookie season on the Asian Tour, which is celebrating its milestone 10th season in 2013.

“I struggled two weeks ago in Myanmar. To finally put together a good round feels good,” he said.

The strapping Korean-American was stunned when he stepped foot for the first time to the Delhi Golf Club. “I was pretty shocked when I got here. My partners in Myanmar were telling me how narrow it was and I looked online and it didn’t look as narrow. But when I stepped on the first tee on Monday, I kind of got a taste of how it really is,” he smiled.

Chiragh Kumar, who lost his full playing rights after finishing 74^th on the Order of Merit last season, was delighted to get into the title mix with a 68 which included five birdies against a lone dropped shot.

Kapur strikes disaster on sixth, but home boys do well

New Delhi, March 6, 2013: Shiv Kapur, who has won his last two strokeplay events, maintained his humorous side, as he came with a 69 that included a quadruple bogey on the sixth (his 15th hole) on the first day of the SAIL-SBI Open presented by Incredible India on Wednesday.

He said, “Like I was telling Dean Jones (the great Australian cricketer who was following Shiv’s group), the front nine was like India and the back nine was like Australia (in recent cricket Test matches). It was quite disappointing to finish that way after my start. Shooting 29 at the front nine, I set myself up for a possibly a very low number. I just had one bad hole on six with a quadruple bogey eight. I don’t think I’ve ever made an eight on that hole in my 20 years of playing here.”

He added, “It’s one of those things that happen in golf and take it on the chin and move on. I hit my tee shot right and hit the monument and went further right in the bush. Tried to chip out but it clipped the stone and went back into the bush and had to take an unplayable inside the bush. Back on the fairway and hit my fifth to the back of the green and then missed the putt.”

He admitted that the first nine (back nine of the course) was a great run. “I was playing great. Hitting a lot of good shots and making a lot of putts.” He had five birdies and an eagle on 18th.

Then he said, “I was having visions of going double digits under par. You take what you get and move on.”

Chiragh, who has grown up at this course like Shiv Kapur, said, “It was a good round, a good start to the tournament. I had a few chances, which I missed out on but I’m not going to complain. 68 is a good round and I’m quite happy with the way I played. I hit the ball pretty good off the tee and my second shots were good as well and I putted pretty well. Overall, it was a great day. I hope it is a sign of things to come. “

On his first round, he said, “I made a few long putts today which feel good. The putts were between 15 and 25 feet.”

He did admit, “The other advantage I have this week is that I know this course pretty well having played here all my life. I’ve won a big event on this course back in 2010 and performed well in a number of Asian Tour events here including the 2011 Indian Open when I was runner-up.”

Manav Jaini also worked on the home advantage at the DGC and he has finished second at the Panasonic Open in 2011, when Anirban Lahiri won the event. Jaini has a few other top-5s also at DGC.