PUNE: The TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, will be staging the sixth edition of the Pune Open Golf Championship at the Poona Club Golf Course from October 19 – 22, 2022. The tournament carries a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh.
The tournament is supported by Host Venue Poona Club Golf Course, Official Hotel Partner Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre and Associate Partners Moonshine, Diageo and Truefitt & Hill.
The tournament will feature leading names such as Udayan Mane, Rashid Khan, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Viraj Madappa, Veer Ahlawat, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Manu Gandas, Varun Parikh and Om Prakash Chouhan as well as former champions Kshitij Naveed Kaul (2019), Anura Rohana (2017) and Harendra Gupta (2016), to name a few.
Besides Sri Lankan Anura Rohana, the other names leading the international challenge will be those of Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Bangladeshis Jamal Hossain, Badal Hossain and Md Akbar Hossain as well as Nepal’s Sukra Bahadur Rai.
The host city of Pune will be represented by professionals Rohan Dhole Patil, Gurki Shergill (a former winner on PGTI), Pravin Pathare, Sameer M Shaikh, Rajiv Datar, Sagar Raghuvanshi and Sunil Baburao Galfade as well as amateurs Aaron Rockey and VP Vimal Dev.
This is a 72-hole stroke-play tournament featuring a field of 126 players including 123 professionals and three amateurs. 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 Pune Open, now in its sixth edition, has grown into one of the most important stops on the PGTI in recent years. With the top golfers of the country teeing it up at the event, golf fans in Pune are in for a visual treat. We thank the Poona Club Golf Course and other event partners for supporting us in staging this event.”
Olympian Udayan Mane, one of leading players in the field this week, said, “I always look forward to playing in my hometown Pune as it gives me an opportunity to spend time with my family as I’m otherwise travelling for most part of the year. At the Poona Club Golf Course this week, there will be a premium on putting the ball in play especially since the fairways will be wet due to the continuous rain. Putting will also hold the key. Whoever adapts the best and the fastest will end up winning.
“The season has not been great for me to be honest unlike the past season but I feel that I’m just getting warmed up now. The game, mindset and work ethic is there so it’s just a matter of time before I get back to my best.”
Mr. Ikram Khan, Captain, Poona Club Golf Course, said, “We are delighted to host India’s top professionals at the Pune Open. The tournament provides us the perfect platform to expose our junior and amateur golfers to professional golf which will inspire them. The event also helps bring the spotlight on the Poona Club Golf Course as a leading championship venue in the country. We wish the players all the best.”
Mr. Anurag Raha, GM, Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre, said, “We are proud to be associated with such a prestigious Open Professional Golf Tour of India Championship. We welcome the business & leisure travellers being close to different corporate offices to Crowne Plaza Pune City Centre.”
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.