By Rahul Banerji
Kolkata’s Sanjeev Mehra emerged winner of Vredestein AVT Champions Tour leg on home turf by a comfortable margin at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club earlier in the week.
The RCGC tested the field to its full extent and a majority of the players averaged over 80 for two days at the 36-hole individual stroke-play event.
Mehra, brother of well-known woman professional Simi Mehra, carded 77 and 73 for a 150 aggregate to claim top honours by five shots from Delhi’s Arvind Khanna.
The tournament attracted the top senior talent in the country, and past winners include the 1983 cricket World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev.
Some of the illustrious names in the field for this edition included former Asian Games gold medallists Lakshman Singh and Rishi Narain, former All India Senior’s champions Gangesh Khaitan and Vijay Kumar besides internationals Jaspreet Bakshi and G,C, Sharma of Chandigarh.
Big field
As many as 85 outstation players flew into Kolkata to compete with a contingent of 40 players from Delhi NCR alone.
In addition, 14 golfers from Bangalore, eight from Mumbai, seven players each from Chandigarh and Pune joined the 15 local players are in the field.
Competition was held in the over 50 category, as well as titles in various veteran age categories, Under-55, Under-60, Under-65, Under-70 besides two long drive challenges by Vredestein Tyres and Indian Terrain.
The AVT Champions tour series pits Indian seniors in a test of their skills while preparing them for international outings like the annual Asia-Pacific Senior Amateur Championship.
The AVT Champions Tour was played just once in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic. In 2021-2022, the Tour has four events culminating in March 2022 at the Classic Golf & CC in Gurgaon.
Individual results
Overall winner: Sanjeev Mehra 77-73 (150)
Age 50-54: Gaurav Ghosh 78-80 (158)
55-59: Sandeep Singh Sandhu 79-77 (156)
60-64: Sanjeev Mehera 82-85 (167)
65-69: Vijay Kumar 82-79 (161)
70 & above: K.K. Bajoria 87-78 (185)
Team results – Gross for 36 holes
Winners: Lakshman Singh, Gaurav Ghosh, Jaideep Singh, Sanjeev Mehra (RCGC) – 469
Runners-up: Arvind Khanna, Amit Misra, Vijay Kumar, P.S. Rathore (DGC/Noida Golf Course/BSF GC) – 482
Hole No. 4 – Indian Terrain Longest Drive Challenge
Day 1 – Sandeep Singh Sandhu – 279.8 yards
Day 2 – Sudeep Chitlangia – 270.2 yards
Hole No. 15 – Vredestein Tyres Longest Drive Challenge
Day 1 – Kanwal Mago – 250 yards
Day 2 – Vikram Singh – 267 yards
Upcoming AVT Champions Tour schedule
Oxford Golf Resort, Pune (Jan. 6, 7 2022)
Classic Golf & CC, Gurugram (March 10, 11 2022)
Also read: Five surprising golf facts you (probably) haven’t heard
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