Local golfers hail premier league format as game-changer

The recently concluded Indian Golf Premier League (IGPL), which made its debut on the Chandigarh Golf Club greens, remained an experience to learn and cherish for local golfers, including Gaganjeet Bhullar, who lifted the title with a score of 2-under 70 in the final round.

“The IGPL format is a game-changer. Three days, no cut, and golf the way it should be — fun, competitive and stress-free. It saves time and brings back the joy we had as juniors,” said Aadil Bedi, who will now be playing the other IGPL events as well, followed by the Asian Tour Q-School, Thailand (2025–26 season card) and Korn Ferry Tour Q-School, USA (pathway to PGA Tour). The Chandigarh team featured professionals like Bhullar, Karandeep Kochhar, Ranjit Singh, Harinder Gupta and Bedi, but it remained a learning platform for local amateur Krish Chawla, who led the opening day with a score of 2-under 70 having two early birdies in the first six holes and then back-to-back gains on the back.

“It was a great opportunity to play alongside India’s top professionals. The course conditions were challenging and it was not easy to score, but being on the leaderboard on Day 1 with a round of two-under — the same as Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar — really boosted my confidence,” added Chawla. With an encouraging debut, he now turns his focus to back-to-back national amateur events. He will tee it up at the IGU Rotary Southern India Amateur Golf Championship at KGA, Bengaluru, followed by the IGU Andhra Pradesh Amateur Golf Championship. “I am carrying a lot of confidence from this week at the IGPL. It has prepared me well for the challenges ahead.”

The second event of the IGPL will be played at Jaypee Greens Golf Course, Delhi NCR, from September 17 to 19, followed by IGPL at the Poona Club, Pune, from October 1 to 3. “The tour (IGPL) has been created with a lot of care and brings together women and young professionals along with amateurs onto the same platform as the top pros. This will help them and hopefully I can inspire some of these youngsters, just like Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa and Arjun Atwal and other seniors inspired me,” said Bhullar, after winning the title.

“I hope the new stars like Veer Ganapathy, Kartik Singh, Krish Chawla and even Shaurya Binu and others we saw in the IGPL will soon get onto the Asian Tour,” he added.

The team of Pukhraj Singh Gill, Dr Jaspreet Batth, Ajay Kumar Yadav and Naveen Arora won the ProAm event, while the team of Shat Mishra, Manu Khosla, Rabbin Saini and Amit Saini claimed the second position. Sachin Baisoya, Sahil Sehgal, Saahir Singh and Bhav Karan finished at third position.