H S BEDI
New Delhi,17 July : TATA Steel PGTI has announced a strong line-up of 14 events between August to December with the prize money in excess of Rs. 11 -crore thereby taking the season’s total prize purse to over Rs. 18 -crore.
The first half of the season consisted of eight events and was followed by the mid-season break. The action will now resume with the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship to be played at the Coimbatore Golf Club from August 17 – 20 marking PGTI’s return to Coimbatore after eight years.
The following week, PGTI will hold its first ever event at the TNGF Cosmo Course and make its return to Chennai after four years with the staging of the third edition of the Chennai Open Championship from August 23 – 26.
The Jammu Tawi Golf Course is going to be yet another new venue for the tour as the J&K Open moves from the valley to the Jammu region. The event will be held from September 7 – 10.
Thereafter, the fifth edition of the Jaipur Open will be held at the Rambagh Club from September 14 – 17.
The month of October begins with the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship at the Panchkula Golf Club which will be played from October 4 – 7.
The fifth edition of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational presented by TAKE is to be played at the Chandigarh Golf Club from October 13 – 16. The event carries a prize purse of Rs. 1.5 crore.
This will be followed by the sixth edition of the Pune Open to be staged at the Poona Club Golf Course from October 19 – 22 and the second edition of the MP Cup slated from October 26 – 29.
The inaugural Kapil Dev-Grant Thornton Golf Invitational worth Rs. 1 crore in prize money is scheduled from November 1 – 4.
The 22nd Indian Oil Servo Masters Golf will be staged from November 16 – 19 at Digboi
Dream Valley Vooty Masters, also offering a prize purse of Rs. 1 crore, is another new event added to the schedule. The event scheduled for November 24 – 27also takes the PGTI to a new venue in Vikarabad, Telangana.
The eighth edition of the Golconda Masters is up next to be played from November 30 – December 3 at Hyderabad .
The third new event to be launched worth Rs. 1 crore is the SSP Chawrasia Invitational presented by TAKE which will be staged at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club from December 8 – 11. This is the second event to be named in honour of golfing legend after the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational.
The season-ending Tour Championship will carry a record prize purse of Rs. 3 -crore as its prize money has been increased by 100 per cent this year. The event featuring the top-60 on the Order of Merit along with a few invites will be held at the Golmuri & Beldih Golf Courses in Jamshedpur from December 15 – 18.
Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “We are delighted to announce a strong second half of the season in terms of prize money and number of events which makes one of our most lucrative seasons ever. The PGTI will witness non-stop golfing action from August to December with the launch of three new events coming as a major boost for Indian professional golf. We are also pleased to further expand our footprint across the country with the addition of three new venues.
‘We look forward to the exciting months ahead and thank PGTI members, our sponsors, tour partners and the host venues of the forthcoming events for all their support and cooperation in helping us bounce back from the difficult times experienced during the pandemic.”