Chandigarh golfers to feature in Challenge Tour beginning today

Chandigarh, March 27

Chandigarh golfers are all set to feature in the ‘Challenge Tour’ organised by European Challenge Tour, TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) from March 28.

The tournament, co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour and the TATA Steel PGTI, carries a prize purse of US$3,00,000 and will be the second event in two weeks to be played at the Karnataka Golf Association (KGA) golf course in Bengaluru from March 28-31. The event will feature a field of 156 players, including 153 professionals and three amateurs. There are 55 Indians in the fray.

Chandigarh’s Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Akshay Sharma, Karandeep Kochhar and Aadil Bedi will feature in the championship. Other leading Indian players in the field include international winners Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa, Chikkarangappa and current PGTI Order of Merit leader Om Prakash Chouhan, who won last week at the KGA, as well as Olympian Udayan Mane, Veer Ahlawat and Aman Raj. The leading players from the Challenge Tour in action this week include Frenchman Ugo Coussaud, Scotsman Craig Howie and Italians Matteo Manassero and Lorenzo Scalise, to name a few.

“With big names participating and high-quality golf on display, this tournament is a great opportunity to provide exposure to KGA’s junior and amateur golfers and also showcase our course to an international audience,” said Prithviraj Urs, President, KGA.

“I am delighted that we will remain at the Karnataka Golf Association for The Challenge presented by the KGA, our second Indian event on the 2023 Road to Mallorca. We thoroughly enjoyed our first visit to the KGA last week for the Duncan Taylor Black Bull Challenge and we are looking forward to working with the team again to deliver a memorable event,” said Jamie Hodges, Head of Challenge Tour.

Rashid Khan, one of the top Indian names in the field this week and fresh from a recent runner-up finish at an international event in Delhi, said: “I feel my game is getting better with each passing week. However, I’m still working on addressing a few issues with my driving.”