New Delhi: The battle for the country's most dominating golfing city would be held at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort, Greater Noida when the second edition of the Rs 1.2 crore prize money Louis Philippe Cup Golf tournament tees off from February 11-16, 2013.
The IPL-styled tournament will see nine city based teams from across the country square off in a league-cum-knock out format with some of the biggest names in Indian golf vying for the winner’s purse of Rs 36 lakh.
The 9 Participating cities in this year’s edition are Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Noida, Ahmedabad and the latest inclusion, Greater Noida- competing to be crowned the champions , of one of the richest tournaments on the PGTI Calendar with a total prize money purse of Rs, 1.20Crores. The teams are respectively named AVT Kolkata, Take Solutions Chennai, Puravankara Bangalore, DLF Gurgaon, Dev Ellora Chandigarh, Shubhkamna Noida, Navratna Ahmedabad and Jaypee Greens Greater Noida. The Delhi team sponsors will be announced soon.
According to the tournament regulations, two professional members of the team would be picked from the top-18 ranked golfers on the money list of Professional Golf Tour of India as on December 31, 2012 and will automatically be part of their city of residence. The third professional player would be the sponsor’s choice.
The Louis Philippe Cup is sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) for three years as the exclusive professional team golf tournament in India and conceptualised by RN Golf Management.
Speaking on the occasion, Jacob John (Brand Head, Louis Philippe) said, “Golf is a game that symbolises style, sophistication and success; characteristics that are reflected in our brand.” Speaking about the opportunity this event gives amateur golfers, John added, “Fan involvement is a key element of the Louis Philippe Cup, and through this event we want to build a platform where true golf fans have a chance to play alongside the pros, a format that can only be adapted in sport such as golf; where the club golfer’s performances do not affect the score and performance of the pros.”
In the second year of the tournament, Jaypee Group has come on board and are also hoisting the tournament. Jaypee Group have a team of their own in this edition of the tournament. The Greater Noida team will be lead by Sanjay Kumar, Vijay Kumar & Gaganjeet Bhullar.
Speaking on the occasion, PGTI Director, Padamjit Sandhu said, "This is an important new innovation in format in professional golf and could potentially be a game changer in the way fans relate to India's top golf stars. We would like to thank Louis Philippe and Rishi Narain Golf Management for creating this new event on the PGTI Tour and we know that India's top players and members of the PGTI are excited to participate in the tournament, rooting for their team to finish at the top
The unique format of the four day event features two days (36 holes) stroke play in which all 9 teams will compete. The four teams with the best total team scores over 36 holes will advance to the semi-finals. From the semi-finals onwards the top four teams will play a knockout. One-on-one matches between the three players of each team will earn each team one point for a win and zero for a loss. The two winning semi-finalists will go head-to-head in the finals on the fourth day. While the losing semi finalists will battle for 3rd place.
The winning team stands to win Rs.36 lacs, while runners-up will earn Rs. 24 lacs, team finishing in third place will earn a purse of Rs.18 lacs and the team placed fourth will receive Rs. 12 lacs. Teams ranked 5 to 8 after the two rounds of strokeplay will battle it out for minor placing while the 9th team will not compete on the final two days.
Star Indian players who are confirmed to play include 2012 Scottish Open Champion ranked no 32 on the 2012 European Tour) Jeev Milkha Singh who turns out once again for Shubhkamna Noida, the 2012 Sail SBI Open (Asian Tour) winner who made a splash at The 2012 British Open Championship Anirban Lahiri who returns once again for Puravankara Bangalore, Three time Indian Open champion and former Asian Tour No. 1 Jyoti Randhawa who again plays for DLF Gurgaon and winner of the 2011 Singapore Classic Himmat Rai ( who will play for Delhi in 2013) ,India’s highest ranking player, the 2012 Macau Open & Yeangder Tournament Player Championship (Both Asian Tour) winner Gaganjeet Bhullar, who will join the newly added Jaypee Greens, Greater Noida team. Apart from these star players, the top 18 ranked players on the PGTI 2012 final order of merit are assured of a starting place on one of the nine teams.
By Indian Sports News Network
