By Rahul Banerji
The Professional Golf Tour of India returns to life after a lockdown-enforced break of almost exactly six months with the Golconda Masters Telengana Open at the Hyderabad Golf Club from September 2 to 5.
In all, nine events have been scheduled till the final one in Jamshedpur from December 16 to 19 in the form of the Tata Steel Tour Championship at the Steel City’s Golmuri and Beldih golf courses.
The last completed tournament was the Delhi NCR Open at the Golden Greens Golf Club near Gurgaon that was won by subsequent Olympian Udayan Mane in mid-March this year.
The second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic then brought the tour to a halt.
Following the Hyderabad event, action shifts to Panchkula in Haryana with the Tata Steel Players Championship from September 8 to 11, where Chandigarh golfer Akshay Sharma is the defending champion.
Mane is the defending champion at the Golconda Masters Telengana Open.
Two new tournaments follow the one at Panchkula, the J&K Open at the picturesque Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar from September 15 to 18, and PGTI Players Championship at the Delhi Golf Club from October 5 to 8.
The new schedule
September 2 to 5: Golconda Masters Telengana Open presented by Vooty and Haldi at Hyderabad Golf Club (Rs 40 lakh).
September 8 to 11: Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship presented by Haryana Government and Panchkula Golf Club (Rs 50 lakh).
September 15 to 18: J&K Open presented by J&K Tourism at Royal Springs Golf Course in Srinagar (Rs 40 lakh).
October 5 to 8: Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship presented by Delhi Golf Club (Rs 50 lakh).
October 12 to 15: Jaipur Open at Rambagh Golf Club (Rs 40 lakh).
November 11 to 14: Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational presented by TAKE at Chandigarh Golf Club (Rs 1.5 crore).
November 25 to 28: ICC-RCGC Open Golf Championship at Royal Calcutta Golf Club (Rs 40 lakh).
December 1 to 4: Pune Open Golf Championship at Poona Club Golf Course (Rs 40 lakh).
December 16 to 19: Tata Steel Tour Championship at Golmuri and Beldih Golf Course in Jamshedpur (Rs 1.5 crore).
These nine tournaments will take the total for the wraparound 2020-2021 season to 23.
Just three events were possible in calendar 2021 in February and March before the lockdown, the Gujarat Open and Glade One Masters, both at Ahmedabad, and the Delhi NCR Open.
Sharma shines
Meanwhile, Shubhankar Sharma turned in a final day card of 5-under 67 to finish in tied 16th place on 14-under 274 at the Hero Open in St Andrews, Scotland, on the European Tour.
Sharma (67-67-73-67) was on track for a solid finish but was handicapped by a third-day performance that pulled him back somewhat in the event won by Scotland’s Grant Forrest with a 24-under par aggregate.
Gaganjeet Bhullar took a share of 38th place on 8-under 280 (76-67-68-69) while Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia 75th on 8 over 296 (76-67-75-78).
A winner of the 2010 Scottish Boys and 2012 Scottish Amateur Championship, Forrest becomes the first Scotsman to win on home soil since Paul Lawrie at the 2012 Johnnie Walker Championship at Gleneagles, the European Tour said.
Also read: Indian Open cancelled over Covid threat for second year running
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