Pune: The PGTI, along with Rishi Narain announced the Oxford Group, Pune as the teams sponsor of the Western India team, combining Mumbai and Pune, which will participate in the PGTI’s USD 250,000 Louis Phillipe Cup, the eight-city team event, each teams comprising a mix of three professionals and three amateur golfers. The team will be name Oxford Group West and will be led by India No. 3 Mukesh Kumar, besides having in its ranks the 2010 former India No 1 player Ashok Kumar from Delhi. Efforts are also on to rope in Asia Tour star Manav Jain or two-time PGA champion Vivek Bhandari as the third professional to create a highly competitive team.
The Western India pro team will be joined by three amateur players, who will be selected through a series of club qualifying rounds at The Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Willingdon Sports Club, Mumbai and at Oxford Golf & Country Club, Pune. Each club will hold a one day tournament and the winning player, with 15 handicap or better will also be on the Oxford Group West team and will play alongside the professionals on the first two days of the tournament in Bangalore for a special Louis Philippe Pro Am team Trophy. Besides Western India, The Louis Phillipe Cup will see teams from Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Kolkatta, Gurgaon, Lucknow and Chandigarh competing for the winner’s purse of Rs 36 lakh.
Louis Philippe Cup, the new PGTI sanctioned inter-city pro golf team event will see 3 man professional golf teams from nine major cities across India fight for the richest domestic calendar event for Golf in India with Rs 1.20 crore in prize money. India’s leading pro golf stars like former Asian Tour Player of the Year Jyoti Randhawa (Gurgaon), European Tour regular Shiv Kapur (Delhi), two time European Tour winner SSP Chowrasia (Kolkata), two time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar (Chandigarh), 2011 Asian Tour winner Anirban Lahiri (Bangalore) and 2011 Singapore Classic winner Himmat Rai (Gurgaon), current Rolex-PGTI ranking No. 1 Chiragh Kumar (Delhi) have confirmed participation in the extravaganza.
Mukesh Kumar said, “I have a lot of friends and supporters in Mumbai and Pune and congratulate Oxford Group for becoming the sponsor of the Western India team. Many of my tournament wins have come in Mumbai and Pune and I will be delighted to play for the Oxford Group West team at the Louis Philippe Cup and will be working to try and ensure we get a strong team so we can bring the Louis Philippe Cup trophy to Western India.“
Anil Seolekar, Chairman, Oxford Group said “There is a strong synergy between the Oxford Group West pro golf team and our development of the 18 hole championship Oxford Golf & Country Club which recently has been named among the top 3 courses in India by the Asian Golf Monthly awards in Thailand.” Golf has a very loyal and passionate fan base in Mumbai and its growing rapidly in Pune. We want to encourage more youngsters and adults to take up the game in Pune at our state of the art golf academy and our association with champions like Mukesh Kumar will be a tremendous asset. “We aim to build a strong Oxford Group West team in the inaugural year of the Louis Philippe Cup and solicit the support of sports enthusiasts in Mumbai and Pune to support the team.”
