Shamim Khan, Angad Cheema are halfway leaders

Pune:21April(National24News.com) PGTI Order of Merit leader Shamim Khan of Delhi and Panchkula’s Angad Cheema emerged halfway leaders at the Pune Open 2017 after both shot second round scores of three-under-68 at the Poona Club Golf Course on Friday. The duo led the field by one stroke at five-under-137.

The cut was set at two-over-73 with 54 professionals making it to the money rounds.

Angad Cheema (69-68) gained four places from his overnight tied fifth place as a result of his 68 in round two. Angad, a former winner on the PGTI, didn’t have the best of starts as he dropped two strokes on the first three holes. The 27-year-old rallied with five birdies thereafter.

After a couple of good chip-putt birdies on the seventh and ninth, Cheema, drove the green on the par-4 10th to set up his third birdie of the day. Two birdie conversions from seven to 10 feet on the 13th and 14th elevated Angad to joint first. The Panchkula lad, however, missed out on taking the sole lead when he three-putted for par on the closing 18th.

  

“I’ve played really well on the first two days but on both days there’s been one stretch that has troubled me and that’s the first three holes. I bogeyed those three holes yesterday and today again I bogeyed the second and third. I really need to improve on that stretch and play it smarter there,” said the lanky Cheema.

He added, “I’ve been working on figuring out a few things with my coach. I’ve worked on my swing and my consistency. I’ve shot one good score and then not been able to repeat that effort in the following rounds in recent events. I’m now more confident when swinging a club.

“I’ve hit 14 to 15 greens in regulation on each of the first two days. I would like to continue doing the same in the next two rounds. However, I need to watch out on the first three holes.”

Shamim Khan (69-68), like Cheema, also followed up his first round 69 with a 68 on day two to move up four places to joint first. Shamim, who won the last PGTI event staged at the Poona Club Golf Course in 2012, made steady progress through the day.

He picked up two birdies on his back-nine, the second of which was from 20 feet, before adding two more on the first and seventh. The approach on the first was the highlight of his round as he landed it within a foot from a distance of 175 yards. Khan’s only blemish was the three-putt for bogey on the eighth.

Shamim, who won in Kolkata last month, said, “I’ve won here before so that will be a big psychological advantage for me going into the last two rounds. I struggled a bit yesterday since chipping was tougher in the afternoon with the greens being faster. But it was a better round today.

“I quite enjoy playing at this course as the layout and the shape of the holes suit my game. I played some terrific approach shots today that set up many scoring opportunities. It’s been a very consistent season for me so far and I would like to keep it going,” added Shamim, who has a win and four other top-5s to his credit from the six starts this season.

Patna’s Aman Raj shot the day’s joint best score of five-under-66 to share third place with Bengaluru’s Khalin Joshi (70) at four-under-138.

Viraj Madappa of Kolkata, one shot behind in tied fifth, was the other player who fired a 66 on Friday. He shared fifth place with round one leader Sudhir Sharma (72) of Greater Noida and three others at three-under-139.

The Chandigarh duo of defending champion Harendra Gupta (74) and KPS Sekhon (74) slipped from overnight tied second to tied 18th at even-par-142. Bengaluru’s Udayan Mane was also in tied 18th place.

The two Pune-based professionals who made the cut, were Saurabh Bhaduri, who was placed tied 25th at one-over-143, and Sameer M Shaikh, who was a further shot back in tied 31st. Mumbai’s Anil Bajrang Mane occupied tied 39th place at three-over-145.

Continue Reading

The Professional Golf Tour of India at the Poona Club Golf Course Open

Pune 18 April (National24News.com) The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, will be staging the second edition of the Pune Open at the prestigious Poona Club Golf Course from April 20 – 23, 2017. The Pune Open, the seventh event of the PGTI’s 2017 season, carries a prize purse of Rs. 30 lakh. The Pro-Am event is scheduled for April 19. The Associate Partners for the event are 24K by Kolte Patil, LIC, Pirelli, Bank of Maharashtra and Websym. Hotel Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre is the Official Hotel Partner.

 The tournament will see some of India’s leading professionals in action such as defending champion Harendra Gupta, Shankar Das, Mukesh Kumar, Honey Baisoya, Udayan Mane, Shamim Khan, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Khalin Joshi, to name a few. The foreign challenge will be led by the Sri Lankan trio of Anura Rohana, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Australia’s Kunal Bhasin and South African Damian Naicker.

The host city of Pune will be represented by Gurki Shergill (winner of 8th TATA Open 2009), Pravin Pathare, Sameer M Shaikh, Rajiv Datar and Sagar Raghuvanshi. This is a 72-hole stroke-play tournament featuring a field of 125 professionals. The cut will be applied after the first 36 holes. The top 50 players and ties will make the halfway cut and continue to play for another 36 holes.

Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “The city of Pune has produced some promising golfing talent over the years. The second edition of the Pune Open will help generate greater interest for professional golf in the city and act as a catalyst for players from the region to realize their full potential. We thank the Poona Club Golf Course for partnering with us in staging the Pune Open and look forward to a successful tournament.”

Mr. Navin Thakur, AVP-Marketing, Kolte-Patil Developers Ltd, said, “We are happy to associate with PGTI for Pune Open Golf Championship. We look at this tie up more than a sponsorship, for us this is a collaboration to boost golf as a sport. 24K, a luxury brand from Kolte-Patil that develops high end projects, has introduced the 9 hole golf putting green in 24K Opula which is under construction basis the learning from the customer interests from earlier delivered project. With the profile of people who choose 24K as a abode, we have to set high standards, these are reflected in our 24K properties through the quality of construction, our value added services and just about every aspect. With this collaboration we aim to boost golf as an emerging sport in India.”

The Poona Club Golf Course, the venue for the event, is spread over 100 acres and dotted with majestic banyan trees and other flowering trees. The course, which is one of the top championship venues in the country, is well appreciated for its water bodies and fast and true greens. The course has staged many National level professional, amateur and junior events over the years.

About PGTI:

Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognised official body of professional golf in India. PGTI's objective is to promote professional golf in the country, as well as to give players an opportunity to be involved in the decision making on all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Gautam Thapar (President), PGTI's governing body comprises leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.

Continue Reading

Anura Rohana’s 67 catapults him to joint first, Harendra Gupta hangs in for a share of the lead

Kochi, :14 APRIL (National24News.com)  While overnight leader Harendra Gupta of Chandigarh hung on to the lead with a quiet 72 on day three, he was joined at the top by Sri Lankan Anura Rohana who carded a splendid 67 that catapulted him four places from his overnight tied fifth position. The duo was two shots clear of the rest at nine-under-207.

The chasing pack featured Delhi’s Honey Baisoya, who followed up his second round 67 with an equally impressive 68 on Friday, and Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, the 2015 champion, who returned a 71 in round three. Baisoya and Mukesh shared third place at seven-under-209.

The seasoned Anura Rohana (70-70-67), lying tied fifth at the halfway stage, bridged the gap of five shots between himself and the leader with his awesome five-under-67 in the third round. The 43-year-old from Colombo, keen to end his two and a half year title drought, made some long birdie conversions on the fifth and sixth which were neutralized by bogeys on the seventh and ninth.  

However, his round took flight on the back-nine. Anura first birdied the 10th from 10 feet and then followed that up with an incredible run of birdies on the last four holes. He struck it well on the 15th and 16th, to pick up strokes on both the par-5s and move to three-under for the day. The three-time winner on the PGTI finally ended the day in a blaze of glory with two more birdie conversions from eight to 10 feet on the 17th and 18th.

Rohana said, “The low score came just at the right time for me. I’ve been feeling good about my putting since the event in Chittagong earlier this month where I finished in the top-5. Today I converted five birdie putts from a range of eight to 15 feet. My approach shots were also quite accurate. I kept landing them close to set up birdie putts.

“I hold the record for the lowest score at this course, an eight-under-64, which I shot during the 2015 PGTI Cochin Masters. I’ve had that at the back of my mind all week. I know I can shoot low scores here and that has been encouraging me to play well.

“I kept missing birdie putts from within 10 feet from the 11th to the 14th but I didn’t let that affect me as I came back well with a fantastic run of four successive birdies at the end. It’s now going to be a fascinating contest with Harendra who came from behind to beat me in Pune exactly one year back.”  

Harendra Gupta (70-65-72) was looking good when he moved to two-under for the day after a brilliant bunker shot on the sixth that left him a tap-in birdie. But a wrong club selection that resulted in a bogey on the seventh changed the course of his round. Gupta, the overnight leader by three, could not conjure any more birdies from there on. In fact, he went on to drop another shot on the 14th.

     

Harendra said, “My driving and tee shots were not as good compared to the second round. I found the hazard a couple of times today. I feel the bogey on the seventh took away the momentum from me as I kept thinking about it through the round.

“However, I’m still very much in contention and a score of four to five-under in the final round would give me a good chance of winning.”

Three-time winner Honey Baisoya produced a flawless 68 to move up from overnight 11th to tied third. He was joined by veteran Mukesh Kumar in joint third. Mukesh had four birdies, a bogey and a double-bogey during his round of 71 on Friday.

Delhi-based Shivendra Singh Sisodia (73) was in fifth place at five-under-211.

Rookie golfer Tapendra Ghai of Gurgaon produced the day’s best score of five-under-66 to be placed tied ninth at two-under-214.

Defending champion Feroz Ali Mollah (73) of Kolkata closed round three in tied 23rd place at one-over-217.

Continue Reading

Harendra Gupta rises to the top with sublime 65

Kochi:13April (National24News.com)  Chandigarh’s Harendra Gupta continued to build on his terrific start to the 2017 PGTI season as he rose to the top in round two of the PGTI Cochin Masters presented by CIAL Golf Club as a result of his sublime seven-under-65, the week’s best score so far. Gupta established a three-shot lead as his total moved to nine-under-135.

Mukesh Kumar of Mhow, the 2015 champion, made his way to joint second place at six-under-138 after posting a four-under-68 on Thursday. He shared second place along with overnight joint leader Shivendra Singh Sisodia (71) of Delhi.

The cut went at four-over-148 with a total of 54 players making it to the money rounds.
 
Harendra Gupta (70-65), lying tied 10th and three off the lead after the first round, made his move on day two thanks to an incredible tally of eight birdies which came at the expense of just one bogey. Gupta, playing with new irons since the start of the season, looked in total control through the day as he made greens in regulation in 17 out of 18 holes.

Harendra, currently ranked fifth in the PGTI Order of Merit courtesy his four top-10s in the first five events of the season, scored on the two par-3s on the back-nine with some outstanding tee shots that left him birdie putts within a range of six feet. He also picked up a shot on the par-5 16th to make the turn at a promising three-under.

Gupta’s front-nine featured two 20-feet birdie conversions and a couple of excellent chip-putt birdies. The 32-year-old, a winner of nine professional titles, only missed the green on the seventh and ended up dropping his lone bogey on that hole.
 
Harendra said, “I was not at my best last year even though I won a title in Pune. But I feel my game is now slowly coming back. I changed my irons at the start of the season and that has had a positive effect on my game. The runner-up finish in Dhaka last month gave me a further boost.

“I’m eager to do well at the CIAL Golf Club since I missed the cut here last year. My ball-striking has been exceptional on the first two days as I’ve hardly missed the greens. With the growth of trees on either side of the fairways this year, hitting maximum fairways assumes greater importance. That will be the priority in the last two rounds.”
 
The seasoned Mukesh Kumar (70-68) gained eight spots from his overnight tied 10th after a bogey-free 68 in round two. After winning in 2015, Mukesh had missed the cut at the PGTI Cochin Masters in 2016.

Mukesh said, “My hitting has helped me set up a lot of birdies since round one but my putting has been a big letdown on both days. However, I enjoy playing at this venue having won here in 2015. This round has given me the launch pad for the last two days.”

Shivendra Singh Sisodia (67-71) slipped from overnight joint first to tied second place after a 71 in round two.

Ajeetesh Sandhu of Chandigarh, another joint leader from round one, dropped to fourth place at five-under-139 following his second round of 72.

Greater Noida-based Sudhir Sharma, also part of the leading trio on day one, occupied tied fifth place at four-under-140 along with five others at the halfway stage.
     
Defending champion Feroz Ali Mollah (69-75) of Kolkata was in tied 16th place at even-par-144.

Asian Tour regular Rahil Gangjee of Bengaluru was placed tied 36th at three-over-147.

All the three local professionals in the field, M Anand (10-over-154), Madesh K (17-over-161) and Vivek V S (20-over-164), missed the cut.

Continue Reading

PGTI Cochin Masters presented by CIAL Golf Club tees off

         Prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh

   Mukesh Kumar, Feroz Ali Mollah, Shamim Khan, Rahil Gangjee, Himmat Singh Rai,                 Ajeetesh Sandhu, Khalin Joshi, Honey Baisoya, top names in the field

Kochi,11 April (National24News.com) The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), ‘the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India’, is all set to hold the fourth edition of the PGTI Cochin Masters presented by CIAL Golf Club. The sixth tournament of the season carries a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh and will be staged from April 12 – 15, 2017, at the CIAL Golf Club in Kochi. The Pro-Am event will be played on April 16, 2017.

The tournament field will feature some of the top Indian professionals such as former champions Mukesh Kumar and Feroz Ali Mollah, Shamim Khan, Rahil Gangjee, Himmat Singh Rai, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Khalin Joshi and Honey Baisoya, to name a few.

The field will also feature foreign professionals such as N Thangaraja (Sri Lanka), Anura Rohana (Sri Lanka), K Prabagaran (Sri Lanka), Kunal Bhasin (Australia) and Arthur Horne (Swaziland).

The three local professionals in the field are Madesh K, M Anand and Vivek V S.

Mr. A M Shabeer, Executive Director, CIAL, said, “We are excited to host the fourth edition of PGTI-Cochin Masters series here at CIAL golf club (CGC). This is the first time that the tournament happens at peak summer season. Well designed water bodies and over 5000 trees offer formidable challenge for the players. Besides the lush green fairways already the course boasts, we have planted 5,000 saplings last year which are grown now. The player line-up is also thrilling and I hope a severe competition ahead.”

Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “We’re delighted to be back in Kochi for the fourth edition of the PGTI Cochin Masters presented by CIAL Golf Club. The tournament has emerged as one of the biggest professional events in the southern region of the country over the last four years. The strong field and immaculate course conditions this year promise a fascinating week of golf. We wish the players all the best.”

The CIAL Golf Club (CGC) has been developed on 130 acres of rolling greens. CGC is designed to play to a length of over 7400 yards and is the only 18-hole golf course in Kerala. CGC is an eco-friendly all weather golf course that is comparable to the best. It is the first course in the country to offer an island green on the 18th hole for a very exciting and challenging round of golf.

Continue Reading