Top guns in field for Rs 50 lakh Players Championship at Panchkula

By Rahul Banerji

Telangana Open winner Manu Gandas and Tata Steel PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar will look to continue their good run of form at the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship which tees off at Panchkula Golf Club on Wednesday.

The event at the scenic course will be held for a third year in succession and offer an enhanced prize fund of Rs 50 lakh from this edition.

The entry line-up also features top Indian professionals including Olympian Udayan Mane, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Chikkarangappa S., Viraj Madappa, defending champion Akshay Sharma and Aadil Bedi, to name a few.

Besides Chandigarh-based golfers Kochhar, Sharma and Bedi, the Tricity will also be represented by Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Harendra Gupta, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Amrit Lal, Ranjit Singh, Ravi Kumar, Jairaj Singh Sandhu, Amritinder Singh and Harmeet Kahlon.

Panchkula’s Angad Cheema, Martendeya Kanishka Sinha, Rajiv Kumar Jatiwal and Rajesh Kumar are also in the fray.

Overseas entries in the field consist of the Bangladesh duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain as well as Digraj Singh Gill, an American national of Indian origin.

Bishmadpal Singh Seerha and Mandaar S. Prashar are the local amateur entries besides 14-year-old Aarav D. Shah, an Australian national of Indian origin based in Greater Noida.

The six-foot-tall Aarav will become one of the youngest players to ever play a PGTI event when he tees up in round one on Wednesday.

‘Top venue’

Panchkula Golf Club general manager Col. A.S. Dhillon, said on tournament-eve, “The staging of this tournament further enhances the reputation of the PGC as a top championship venue in India.

“Hosting a PGTI event also gives us an opportunity to showcase the excellent playing conditions at the PGC.

“The club has been developed into a big attraction for golfers from across the country in a short span of few years thanks to the continued support of the Haryana government.

“We’re excited to hold the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship here. Notwithstanding the extended monsoon, we are providing outstanding playing conditions which the professionals will enjoy.

“Interestingly, there’s a slice of Indian golfing history associated with the PGC as Indian stars Anirban Lahiri and Gaganjeet Bhullar both won their maiden professional events at the PGC back in 2009.”

Added PGTI chief executive U.S. Mundy, “The championship, being staged in Panchkula for the third year in succession, promises a fascinating week of golf thanks to the excellent playing conditions at Panchkula.”

Defending champion Akshay Sharma, 10^th in the PGTI Order of Merit with three top-10s in the season so far, said, “I’m really looking forward to this week as I have good memories of my win at this venue last year.

“Even though the Chandigarh Golf Club is my home course, the Panchkula Golf Club is also like a home course to me because I practice here quite often and know the conditions well. I’m confident of a good performance this week despite not playing too well last week in Hyderabad.”   

The 6.904-yard par 72, 18-hole Panchkula Golf Club course spread over approximately 135 acres is situated on the banks of the Ghaggar River which provides its own twists to a few of the holes along its course.

Also read: Gill Sr, Gandas share Telengana Open first round lead