Panchkula: The TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) will be staging the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship 2021 Presented by Govt. of Haryana & Panchkula Golf Club from September 8 – 11, 2021. The tournament has an enhanced prize purse of Rs. 50 lakh. The Pro-Am event will be played on September 12.
The TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship being held at the scenic Panchkula Golf Club for the third year in succession, will be the second event since the resumption of the 2020-21 season which had a forced break of six months this year due to the Pandemic.
The event will feature top Indian professionals such as Olympian Udayan Mane, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Chikkarangappa, Viraj Madappa, PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, Manu Gandas (winner on the PGTI last week), defending champion Akshay Sharma and Aadil Bedi, to name a few.
Besides Chandigarh-based golfers Karandeep Kochhar, Akshay Sharma and Aadil Bedi, the Tricity will also be represented by Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Harendra Gupta, Abhijit Singh Chadha, Amrit Lal, Ranjit Singh, Ravi Kumar, Jairaj Singh Sandhu, Amritinder Singh and Harmeet Kahlon as well as Panchkula’s Angad Cheema, Martendeya Kanishka Sinha, Rajiv Kumar Jatiwal and Rajesh Kumar.
The foreign names in the field consist of the Bangladeshi duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain as well as Digraj Singh Gill who is an American national of Indian origin.
Among the three amateurs in the fray, Bishmadpal Singh Seerha and Mandaar S Prashar also hail from the Tricity while 14-year-old Aarav D Shah is an Australian national of Indian origin who is based in Greater Noida. The six-feet tall Aarav D Shah will become one of the youngest players to ever play a PGTI event when he tees it up in round one on Wednesday.
Col. A S Dhillon, GM, Panchkula Golf Club, said, “It was very kind of the Govt. of Haryana to have sanctioned the conduct of the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship at the Panchkula Golf Club (PGC). The staging of this tournament further enhances the reputation of the PGC as a top championship venue in India. Hosting the PGTI event also gives us an opportunity to showcase the excellent playing conditions at the PGC. We have been able to develop PGC into a big attraction for golfers from across the country in a short span of few years thanks to the continued support of the Govt. of Haryana.
“We’re excited to hold the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship at the PGC. Notwithstanding the extended monsoon, we are providing outstanding playing conditions which the professional golfers 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.”
Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “The PGTI thanks the Govt. of Haryana and the Panchkula Golf Club (PGC) for supporting its initiative of getting the tour back on track after a forced six-month break due to the Pandemic. The TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship, an event being staged in Panchkula for the third year in succession, promises a fascinating week of golf thanks to the excellent playing conditions provided by the PGC.”
Defending champion Akshay Sharma, who is currently 10th 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 therefore confident of a good performance this week despite not playing too well last week in Hyderabad.”
