Richest domestic golf event
In another effort to reach out to the masses and inject more passion into the sport, the Professional Golf Tour of India on Friday announced the Louis Philippe Cup -- an innovative City-based event also aimed at encouraging team competition.
“In India, we don’t have too many team events,” said Padamjit Sandhu, director of PGTI, while unveiling the richest domestic event scheduled to be held at the Karnataka Golf Association from March 5-10 next year. “Most events are individual events and the following is also very limited.
“We generally only see the golfers slugging it out all alone. They hardly to get a chance to represent their city, unlike in cricket or football. This format is unique and should change the dynamics of the sport in time to come. When Rishi (Narain) came to me with the concept, I was really excited and we decided to go ahead with it.”
The Louis Philippe Cup will have eight city teams -- Bangalore, Delhi, Chennai, Gurgaon, Kolkata, Mumbai, Chandigarh and Lucknow. Each team will have three professionals -- two from the top-16 of the PGTI Order of Merit List 2011 get automatic qualification to their respective cities while one pro based in the city will be picked by franchise.
Following pro-am events on March 5 and 6, the pros will be involved in regular strokeplay competition on March 7 and 8. The top four teams will then advance to the semifinals on March 9. The semis and the final will be played in matchplay format.
Some of the top pros who have confirmed their participation for the Rs 1.14 crore event are Anirban Lahiri, Jyoti Randhawa, Shiv Kapur, Himmat Rai, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Sujjan Singh and Rashid Khan.
While the winning team will take home a cool Rs 36 lakh, the runners-up collect Rs 24 lakh, third-placed team Rs 18 lakh and the fourth-placed Rs 12 lakh. The other four teams will earn Rs 6 lakh each.
