PGTI event returns to Royal Calcutta Golf Club

The inaugural edition of the ₹40 lakh ICC RCGC Open will be held from December 12 to 15.

Udayan Mane will be one of the participants in the tournament.

Amid economic slowdown, the Professional Golf Tour of India was “fortunate” to get back a big event to the iconic Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) due to its three-year deal with the Indian Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

At the launch of the inaugural edition of ICC RCGC Open, to be held here from December 12 to 15, PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy admitted that the going was tough due economic slowdown in the country. “It’s true that we depend on sponsors. It was a tough year, but we were fortunate that we got the ICC’s help to begin this new event. We want to expand the tour and hopefully everything will be all right next year,” Mundy said.

Top players, including Udayan Mane, Chiragh Kumar, Shamim Khan and Mukesh Kumar, will be seen in action in the ₹40 lakh event through which the PGTI will return to the RCGC after two years following the cancellation of the McLeod Russel year-ending championship.

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The event will also feature promising rookies Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Priyanshu Singh, who have won PGTI events in their debut year, and foreign regulars Anura Rohana and Mithun Perera of Sri Lanka and Mohammed Zamal Hossain Mollah of Bangladesh.

The event will witness a greater participation of amateurs, who will play alongside the professionals on December 11 and then in the last two rounds of the main event on December 14 and 15.

RCGC captain Ashish Doshi said the course would be top condition for the competition. “We were able to get the course back to shape after the Bulbul cyclone. The course is in pristine condition,” said Doshi.