By Rahul Banerji
The Tata Steel Professional Golf Tour of India on Monday launched the inaugural Nissan Chandigarh Open hosted by Chandigarh Golf Club which tees off on Wednesday.
The Rs 1 crore tournament will see leading Indian names such as Jeev Milkha Singh, Gaganjeet Bhullar, S.S.P. Chawrasia, Om Prakash Chouhan, and Manu Gandas in action.
Also in the field are Indian Open joint runner-up Veer Ahlawat, Rahil Gangjee, Rashid Khan, Abhinav Lohan, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Chikkarangappa S. and Karandeep Kochhar;
Overseas entries include Sri Lankans N. Thangaraja and K. Prabagaran, Jamal Hossain and Badal Hossain of Bangladesh, Andorra’s Kevin Esteve Rigaill, and American Varun Chopra.
A good number of rookies including PGTI Qualifying School winner Matias Dominguez of Chile, Nepal’s Subash Tamang, Italy’s Michele Ortolani and Czechia’s Stepan Danek will line up as well on Wednesday.
Home firepower
Besides Jeev, Bhullar, Yuvraj Sandhu and Kochhar, the other prominent Chandigarh-based professionals in the field are Ajeetesh Sandhu, Jairaj Singh Sandhu, Angad Cheema, Harendra Gupta, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Aadil Bedi, Gurbaaz Mann, Amritinder Singh and Ravi Kumar.
One of the three amateurs participating is Jeev’s 14-year-old son Harjai. The other two are Ayaan Gupta and Ram Singh Maan, also from Chandigarh.
Said Chandigarh GC president Ravibir Singh at Monday’s launch, “We are delighted to host the inaugural Nissan presents Chandigarh Open.
“The tournament promises to be a treat for golf fans in Chandigarh with some of the biggest names in Indian golf teeing it up and vying for a handsome prize purse.
“The event provides a great opportunity for the young talents of Chandigarh to get a first-hand experience of golf at the highest level and also for us to showcase our course to a much wider audience through the live coverage in the last two rounds.”
The CGC has produced the likes of Jeev, Harmeet Kahlon, current PGTI president Uttam Singh Mundy, Amandeep Johl, Amritinder Singh, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Sujjan Singh amongst others.
The event is supported by PGTI’s tour partners including Rolex, Amrutanjan Fruitnik, Nissan Motors India, and Bisleri.
Also read: Late ace sees Abhinav Lohan over the line for Gujarat Open title
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