Pune: Professional Golf Tour Of India Returns To The Poona Club Golf Course After Two Years
Pune, November 5, 2024: The Poona Club Golf Course and the TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, today jointly launched The Poona Club Open golf tournament which will be held at the magnificent Poona Club Golf Course from November 6 – 9, 2024. The tournament carries a prize purse of INR 1 crore, the highest-ever for an event in Pune.
The tournament will feature leading Indian professionals such as DP World Tour regular Om Prakash Chouhan, Olympian and local lad Udayan Mane, 2024 TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader Veer Ahlawat, Rashid Khan, Karandeep Kochhar, Shaurya Binu, Sachin Baisoya, Varun Parikh, Dhruv Sheoran. and Shaurya Bhattacharya, to name a few.
The foreign challenge will be led by Czech Republic’s Stepan Danek, Bangladeshis Jamal Hossain, Badal Hossain, Md Akbar Hossain, Md Jakiruzzaman Jakir, Sri Lankans N Thangaraja, K Prabagaran, Andorra’s Kevin Esteve Rigaill, Nepal’s Subash Tamang, Canada’s Sukhraj Singh Gill, Japan’s Makoto Iwasaki and Americans Dominic Piccirillo and Digraj Singh Gill.
The host venue Poona Club Golf Course will be represented by professionals Rohan Dhole Patil, Pranav Mardikar, Akshay Damale, Pravin Pathare, Aaron Rockey, Gurki Shergill (a winner on the PGTI), Aditya Bhandarkar, Sameer M Shaikh, Rajiv Datar, Sandeep Phalnikar. and Jaideep Patwardhan as well as amateurs Arkin Patil, Aditya Garg and Avneesh Somayaji.
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.
Gaurav Gadhoke, President, The Poona Club Ltd., expressed enthusiasm about hosting India’s top golf professionals at The Poona Club Open. He highlighted the importance of the event, saying, “This event offers a unique opportunity for members to witness a golfing spectacle and provides exposure to junior and amateur golfers to professional play. Additionally, the tournament serves to showcase the Poona Club Golf Course as a premier championship venue in the country. I extend my best wishes to all participating players.”
Indraneel Mujgule, Vice President, The Poona Club Ltd., said, “We welcome all the professionals from India and overseas to the inaugural edition of The Poona Club Open and hope we can make it a memorable week for them. We thank the Title Sponsor and Associate Sponsors for helping make this event possible and facilitating PGTI’s return to The Poona Club Golf Course after two years.”
Jay Shirke, Captain, The Poona Club Golf Course, said, “We’re excited to host the leading Indian professionals at the inaugural edition of The Poona Club Open. The top-quality golf on display during the event will go a long way in inspiring our young golfers to achieve greater feats. We’ve worked towards providing the best playing conditions and we’re confident the professionals will relish the experience of playing at The Poona Club Golf Course.”
Padmaja Shirke, Lady Captain, The Poona Club Golf Course, said, “The Poona Club Golf Course has produced a number of talented lady professionals and amateurs in recent times who have been performing well at the national level. The staging of The Poona Club Open provides our lady golfers a great opportunity to interact with India’s leading men professional golfers thus giving our lady golfers greater exposure to the sport at the highest level.”
Ikram Khan, Past Captain & Golf Advisor, The Poona Club Golf Course, said, “It’s a historic moment for The Poona Club Golf Course to launch The Poona Club Open which has been a result of the initiative and efforts of the President Mr. Gaurav Gadhoke. The tournament promises to be an enriching experience for the members who will get to witness top-class golfing action through the week and will have the opportunity to interact with the leading Indian professionals at the Pro-Am and the Golf Clinic. We look forward to jointly working with PGTI in developing this event into one of the highlights of the PGTI season in the coming years.”
Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “We thank the President Mr. Gaurav Gadhoke, Captain Mr. Jay Shirke, Past Captain & Golf Advisor Mr. Ikram Khan and all other Committee Members of The Poona Club Golf Course for their invaluable contribution in making this event possible by raising the sponsorship fund for the event. Pune is today a major golfing center in the country which regularly produces talented professional golfers. We thus strive to work in close association with The Poona Club Golf Course in making this tournament an important stop on the PGTI in the coming years.”
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. The first player to make a hole-in-one on the fourth hole will win himself a Nissan Magnite car.
The tournament is supported by Host Venue Poona Club Golf Course , Title Sponsor Venky’s (India) Ltd, Vencobb and NECC. The Associate Sponsors are Wipro Pari, Panchshil, Shubbaan Investments, Elica and Automech .
The Poona Club Open Golf Tournament will be held from November 6 to 9
Top players like Omprakash Chauhan, Udayan Mane, Veer Ahlawat, Rashid Khan and Karandeep Kochhar have participated.
Pune, November 5, 2024: The Poona Club Golf Course and the Tata Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the only official governing body of professional golf in India, today announced The Poona Club Open Golf Tournament to be held at the Poona Club Golf Course from November 6 to 9. was announced. The tournament carries the highest ever prize money of Rs 1 crore in Pune.
The tournament is supported by host Poona Club Golf Course, main sponsors Venky’s India Limited, Vencob and NECC. Also, Wipro Pari, Panchsheel, Shuban Investments, Elika and Automake are the associate sponsors of the tournament.
Poona Club Limited Chairman Gaurav Gadhok, Vice Chairman Indranil Mujgule, Poona Club Golf Course Captain Jay Shirke, Lady Captain Padmaja Shirke, Former Captain and Golf Consultant Ikram Khan, PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundi, Pune Olympian Udayan Mane, Tata for 2024 Still PGTI topper Veer Ahlawat, PGTI Director of Marketing and Tour Development Vikas Singh and other dignitaries were present.
The prestigious event features leading Indian players including DP World Tour regular Omprakash Chauhan, Pune Olympian Udayan Mane, Tata Steel PGTI 2024 top seed Veer Ahlawat, Rashid Khan, Karandeep Kochhar, Shaurya Binu, Sachin Baisoya, Varun Parikh, Dhruv The participation of Shevram and Shaurya Bhattacharya will be a feature of this tournament.
Czech Republic’s Stepan Danek, Bangladesh’s Jamal Hussain, Badal Hussain, Mohammad Akbar Hussain and Mohammad Zakiru Zaman Zakir, Sri Lanka’s N Thangaraja and Endora’s Kevin Esteve Riegel, Nepal’s Subhash Tamang, Canada’s Sukhraj Singh Gill, Japan’s Makoto Iwasaki and America’s Dominic PCrillo and Digraj Singh. Gill will be a challenge for foreign players.
The host Poona Club Golf Course will be represented by professional players Rohan Dhole Patil, Pranav Mardikar, Akshay Damle, Praveen Pathare, Aaron Rocky, Gurki Shergill (former PGTI winner), Aditya Bhandarkar, Sameer Sheikh, Rajeev Datar, Sandeep Phalnikar and Jaideep Patwardhan and Arkin Patil. , Aditya Garg, Avnish Somayyaji also includes amateur players.
This tournament is a 72 hole stroke play type and a total of 126 players including 123 professionals and 3 amateurs have been determined to participate. The top 50 players after the first 36 holes will qualify for the next 36 holes.
Gaurav Gadhok, President, Poona Club Limited, expressed his happiness at the participation of India’s best professional players in the Poona Club Open Golf Tournament and highlighted the importance of the tournament. This tournament has provided an opportunity to Poona club members to see professional quality skills along with high quality competition and amateur and Kumar group players will also get a golden opportunity to compete with professional players.
Gadhok added that the tournament has proved that the Poona Club Golf Course is the right venue to host the highest caliber tournament in the country and wishes all the participating players the best of luck.
The Poona Club Ltd. Vice President Indranil Mujgule said that we welcome players from India and abroad to participate in the first edition of the Poona Club Open Golf. We hope this week will be unforgettable for all. After two years the PGTI tournament is being held at Poona Club Golf Course and we thank the main sponsors and associate sponsors for their support.
Poona Club Golf Course Captain Jay Shirke said that we are very happy to have the opportunity to host the first season of Poona Club Open Golf Tournament and having such high quality competition in a place like Pune will be a great inspiration to Kumar and amateur golfers here. We have provided the best facilities for this tournament and the players will surely enjoy the thrilling experience of playing at the Poona Club Golf Course.
Padmaja Shirke, Lady Captain of Poona Club Golf Course said that Poona Club has produced many talented women professionals and amateurs in the last few years who are performing well up to the national level. This tournament will give the women players here an opportunity to interact with the best professional male players in India and thereby raise their standards.
Former captain and golf consultant Ikram Khan said that the organization of this tournament is a historic event for the Poona Club Golf Course and it is the result of tireless efforts of club president Gaurav Gadhok. The tournament will be a valuable opportunity for Poona Club members to interact with top Indian players who have made it to the ProAm and Golf Clinic. It is our endeavor that this tournament will be held regularly at Poona Club Golf Course in the future.
PGTI Chief Executive Officer Uttam Singh Mundi said, “I would like to thank Club President Gaurav Gadhok, Captain Jai Shirke, Ex-Captain Ikram Khan and Poona Club for organizing this highly prestigious tournament at the Poona Club Golf Course and successfully raising the necessary sponsors and funds for the tournament. Thanks to all coordinating committee members. Pune has now become an important hub for major golf tournaments in the country and is regularly churning out quality professional golfers. That is why we will try to organize this tournament regularly in the future in collaboration with Poona Club Golf Course and it will become an important milestone for PGTI.
The Poona Club Golf Course is the main center and venue for this tournament and spread over a sprawling area of over 100 acres, the course is dominated by giant banyan trees and many trees. This golf course is famous for its greens. Many national and junior group tournaments have been held on this course in the last few years. The first player to ‘hole in one’ (hit the target in one shot) on the fourth hole of this challenging golf course will be awarded a special prize of a Nissan Magnet car.
Photo CaptionFrom Left to Right:
Mr. Indraneel Mujgule, Padmaja Shirke, Mr. Ikram Khan, Mr. Veer Ahlawat, Mr. Udyan Mane, Mr. Jay Shirke, Mr. Gaurav Gadhoke, Mr. Vikas Singh seen in this photo
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