Top Indian golfers including the likes of S.S.P. Chawrasia, Rashid Khan, Himmat Rai and Khalin Joshi will battle it out for prize money totalling of Rs.30 lakh in the inaugural Kolkata Classic Golf Championship starting here from March 22, it was announced on Friday.
The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) announced the event which is to be played at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club. The city is now set to host two PGTI events in the 2016 season.
The tournament will also feature players like Shankar Das, Shamim Khan, Feroz Ali Mollah, Udayan Mane and Ashok Kumar. It will also have the Sri Lankan trio of N Thangaraja, Anura Rohana and K. Prabagaran.
It will be a 72-hole stroke-play tournament featuring a field of 126 players where the cut will be applied after the first 36 holes. The top 50 golfers and ties will make the halfway cut and continue to play for another 36 holes.
"We are trying to revive professional golf here in Kolkata. Having just one PGTI event was a disheartening thing. But now we are delighted to have the Kolkata Championship," PGTI director Uttam Singh Mundy told reporters.
"For thirty years I have known this course. So I will try hard to win the championship. For me it is all about hard work and practice," Feroz said.
Another local talent Shankar who had won the McLeod Russel open in 2014 said he was looking forward to playing at his home course.
"It is good that we are having a few sponsors supporting us now. Looking forward to playing here and performing again," Das stated.
"It is a great golf course and it is in immaculate condition now," Mundy added.
