Panchkula golf club to host its first league in April

The Panchkula Golf Club (PGC) will organise first-ever PGC League—on the lines of the Chandigarh Golf League, which is now an annual affair of the Chandigarh Golf Club (CGC) — at the local greens. The auction (by the means of picking lottery) of golfers for various teams will take place on January 22, followed by finalising criteria of the league during a meeting of the organising committee at the PGC.

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The club has nearly 2,300 registered members and sources claimed that 280 members have expressed their interest to play in the league. The event will be organised in April. The number and names of the participating teams will be decided after the players’ auction.

“The club will be hosting the league for the first time. The allotment of players to various clubs — which we have named as auction — will take place tomorrow. We will also finalise other modalities of the league,” said Col Avtar Singh Dhillon, general manager, PGC.

He further added, “The winning prize and the format will be decided later this month, after the final approval of the organising committee and the allotment of tender for conducting the league. The number and names of the teams are likely to be revealed after the segregation of players to various groups on January 21.” The league is expected to be played across a month, with few rest days for the teams.

A team will most likely consist of 14 to 16 amateur players, including a fixed number of female golfers. It is expected that 18 to 19 teams will participate in this event.

Last year, the CGC had hosted the 3rd edition of the league in which eight teams having 18 players (with one over 75 plus team player and also one female player) participated. Chandigarh Gladiators, Canam Raptors, Empire, Fairway Comets, Captain’s 18, Golf Masters, Ninjas, Moksha Royals, Greengators, Netsmartz Tigers, Hunting Hawks, Partee Panthers, Punjab Aces, The Mulligans, Pirates of the greens, Seven Iron, Soaring Eagles, Sultans of Swing, Swinging Samurai, Signature by KLV and Tee Birds had played at CGC. The tournament was played across a month.

The PGC has been designed as a championship 18-hole course and provides enough challenges to top pros and weekend golfers. The course, measuring approximately 135 acres, is situated on the bank of the Ghaggar river, and had the record (single round) of 9-under-63 by Mandeo Singh Pathania (Round 2) during the Haryana Open in 2009.

The greens had last hosted the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) event (Haryana Open) in October. The field at the sixth edition of the Haryana Open featured 123 professionals and three amateurs. Set up in 2003, the PGC is a public sports facility run by the Haryana Government and is affiliated to the Indian Golf Union (IGU).