By Rahul Banerji
Domestic golf gets its second fillip in as many days with the resumption of the Tata Steel Professional Golf Tour of India in Hyderabad from Thursday.
The Golconda Masters Telangana Open 2021 Presented by Vooty & Haldi marks the return to action of the men’s tour a day after the women teed off in Gurgaon post-Covid.
The Rs 40 lakh Telangana Open will be played at the picturesque Hyderabad Golf Club (HGC) from Thursday onwards to Sunday and will see 129 golfers (123 professionals and six amateurs) in action.
The tournament is supported by the Hyderabad Golf Association, besides presenting partners Vooty Golf County and Haldi Golf County, and the principal partner being Telangana Tourism.
The Government of Telangana has supported the event from its inception in 2015.
Top Indian professionals in the fray include Olympian and defending champion Udayan Mane (winner, 2018 and 2020), PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa and Aman Raj.
Other lead players in the fray are former champions Chikkarangappa S. (2019) and Harendra Gupta (2015), to name a few. The field includes the Bangladeshi duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain.
Local flavour
The local challenge will be led by Hyderabad-based professionals Haider Hussain, Mohd Azhar, Venkkat Gautham, Rupinder Singh Gill and Sanjay Kumar Singh.
They will be joined by amateurs Hardik S. Chawda, Tarun Ajay, Rahul Ajay, Tej Gangavarapu, Sankeerth Nidadavolu and Milind Soni.
Telerngana youth, tourism and culture secretary K.S. Sreenivasa Raju, said “We are proud to be associated with the seventh edition of the Golconda Masters Telangana Open.
“The tournament provides us an opportunity to highlight the tourism potential of the state of Telangana and the city of Hyderabad.
“The event also helps us showcase the magnificent Hyderabad Golf Club as a leading golfing destination set against the backdrop of the historic Golconda Fort. We wish the players all the best and look forward to an exciting contest.”
Added HGA president C. Dayakar Reddy, “We look forward to hosting the seventh edition of the Golconda Masters Telangana Open. The tournament, launched in 2015 has today grown into one of the most important stops on the PGTI attracting some of the best professionals in the country.
“The outstanding playing conditions at the HGA will ensure an exhilarating week of golfing action. I wish the players all the best.”
TheHGA offers an 18-hole, 6200 yard, par-71 layout and is partly set inside the grounds of the imposing Golconda Fort.
Also read: AmEx, Amrutanjan sign up as PGTI tour partners; Q School in Jan.
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