By Rahul Banerji
With the Olympic cut-off ticking down time, the Prometheus School Delhi-NCR Open Golf Championship gains additional value for the top field that tees off on Tuesday.
In a rare happening, the Tata Steel Professional Golf Tour of India has brought the Noida-based Prometheus School on board as primary sponsor of the event at scenic Golden Greens Golf Club in Gurgaon.
In parallel, 1983 World Cup-winning captain Kapil Dev was on Monday named as a director on the PGTI’s board and promised to do more than his bit to help develop and grow the game.
“Give just five per cent less time to cricket for golf and other sports and they will also produce champions,”Kapil, himself a mean striker of the golf ball said on Monday.
Speaking at the launch of the Prometheus School Delhi-NCR Open, Kapil said, “I will try and promote other sports, especially golf, now that I am part of it.
On board
“As a board member of the PGTI, I will try my best to promote Indian professional golf. All sports need promotion and since I play golf I’m delighted to be involved with it.
“I hope this difficult time will pass, the good time is coming and in five years time people should say I want to play the Indian tour that should be like the IPL.”
And in a little side-swipe, the great all-rounder pointed out that since the cricket board did not seem to need his services, he would be happy to do his best for other sports.
Added pioneering Indian golf great Jeev Milkha Singh, “I’m glad to hear that even during these testing times, the PGTI is hosting events such as the Delhi-NCR Open Golf Championship which is presented by Prometheus School.
“Kapil Dev being inducted as a PGTI board member will open up a lot of doors for the PGTI.
‘Visionary legend‘
“He’s a sporting legend, a keen golfer and he has a vision so it will be great to see his experience come into play for the benefit of Indian professional golf.”
Meanwhile, with Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) points up for grabs, each event is vital and the Rs 30 lakh NCR Open has drawn a solid entry list.
In the fray are Rashid Khan, Rahil Gangjee, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Chikkarangappa S., Viraj Madappa, Khalin Joshi, Udayan Mane and PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar.
Qualification to the Tokyo Games has just over three months remaining with June 21 being the cut-off date which means Rashid (311), Mane (320), Kochhar (351) and Chikkarangappa (352) – are all in with a chance.
Gaganjeet Bhullar’s second place finish at the Qatar Masters has also added spice to the race as he will climb substantially in the OWGR update this week.
The Prometheus School, founded in 2019, is a Cambridge IGSCE and candidate school for the International Baccalaureate (IB) Primary Years and Middle Years Programme and is pursuing authorisation as an IB World School.
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