Harpal Singh Bedi
Top professionals including Olympian Udayan Mane, defending champion Akshay Sharma, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, and Manu Gandas (winner on the PGTI last week) will be seen in action in the Rs 50-lakh prize money PGTI Players Championship scheduled at Panchkula Golf Club from September 8 – 11,
The tournament has an enhanced prize purse of Rs. 50 lakh. The Pro-Am event will be played on September 12.
Others figuring in this strong field are Chikkarangappa, Viraj Madappa, Chandigarh-based golfers PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, Aadil Bedi, Yuvraj Sandhu, Harendra Gupta, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Amrit Lal, Ranjit Singh, Ravi Kumar, Jairaj Sandhu, Amritinder Singh, and Harmeet Kahlon as well as Panchkula’s Angad Cheema, Martendeya Kanishka Sinha, Rajiv Kumar Jatiwal and Rajesh Kumar.
The foreign names in the field consist of the Bangladeshi duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain as well as Digraj Gill who is an American national of Indian origin.
Among the three amateurs in the fray, Bishmadpal Singh Seerha and Mandaar S Prashar also hail from the Tricity while 14-year-old Aarav D Shah is an Australian national of Indian origin who is based in Greater Noida. The six-foot-tall Aarav D Shah will become one of the youngest players to ever play a PGTI event when he tees it up in round one on Wednesday.
Defending champion Akshay Sharma, who is currently 10th in the PGTI Order of Merit with three top-10s in the season so far, said, “I’m really looking forward to this week as I have good memories of my win at this venue last year.
“Even though the Chandigarh Golf Club is my home course, the Panchkula Golf Club is also like a home course to me because I practice here quite often and know the conditions well. I’m therefore confident of a good performance this week despite not playing too well last week in Hyderabad,” he added
Panchkula Golf Club course has been designed as a championship 18-hole course. The course measuring approximately 135 acres is situated on the banks of river Ghaggar. The cool summer breeze from the mountains and the winter cold winds add to the ambiance of the course. Every effort is taken to maintain the course at the highest recommended international standards.
Panchkula Golf Club (PGC) GM A S Dhillon said “ The staging of this tournament further enhances the reputation of the PGC as a top championship venue in India. Hosting the PGTI event also gives us an opportunity to showcase the excellent playing conditions at the PGC.
We have been able to develop PGC into a big attraction for golfers from across the country in a short span of few years thanks to the continued support of the Govt. of Haryana. Interestingly, there’s a slice of Indian golfing history associated with the PGC as Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar both won their maiden professional events at the PGC back in 2009.”
The TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship, an event being staged in Panchkula for the third year in succession, promises a fascinating week of golf thanks to the excellent playing conditions provided by the PGC.”