New Delhi, July 5 (IANS) The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) on Tuesday announced the second half of its 2023 season comprising an impressive line-up of 14 events between August to December, which continues the upward trend of Indian professional golf.
The second half of the season offers prize money of INR 15.25 crore thereby taking the season’s total prize purse counted towards the PGTI Order of Merit to over INR 33.35 crore (including the three international events), which is a PGTI record.
The back half of the season features 11 events with prize money in excess of INR 1 crore.
The first half of the season consisted of eight events and was followed by the mid-season break. The action will resume with the inaugural India Cements Pro Championship, played at the TNGF Cosmo Golf Course in Chennai from August 16–19.
The next two events, Coimbatore Open at Coimbatore Golf Club from August 22–25 and Vizag Open at East Point Golf Club from September 20–23 will also be new additions to the schedule thus making it a total of six new events this season, the PGTI informed in a release on Tuesday.
With the staging of the Vizag Open, the East Point Golf Club will be added as a new venue on the PGTI calendar. As a result, the release said, the tour further expands its geographical footprint by making its first entry into the state of Andhra Pradesh and the city of Visakhapatnam.
The Telangana Golconda Masters in Hyderabad (Sept 27–30) and the J&K Open at Jammu Tawi Golf Course (October 4–7) return for their ninth and third editions respectively. While the prize money for the Telangana Golconda Masters has been raised from INR 40 lakh to INR 1 crore, the prize purse for the J&K Open has been hiked from INR 40 lakh to INR 50 lakh.
The Bengaluru Open Golf Championship to be staged at Karnataka Golf Association (Oct 18–21) and the Haryana Open to be held at Panchkula Golf Club (Oct 25–28) are two events that return to the PGTI schedule after a long gap. Both events offer prize purses of INR 1 crore each.
The sixth edition of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational will be played at the Chandigarh Golf Club from November 2–5 and will have a prize purse of INR 1.5 crore.
The last six events of the season will be held over consecutive weeks beginning with the second edition of the Vooty Masters at the Vooty Golf County in Vikarabad, Telangana (November 15–18).
The IndianOil Servo Masters Golf, the longest-running event on the PGTI, will be back for its 23rd edition at the Digboi Golf Links from November 22–25.
Both the Kapil Dev-Grant Thornton Golf Invitational at DLF Golf & Country Club, Gurugram (Nov 29–December 2) and the SSP Chawrasia Invitational at Royal Calcutta Golf Club (Dec 7–10) will be staging their second editions following their grand launch last season.
Thereafter, the sixth edition of the Jaipur Open will be held at the Rambagh Golf Club (Dec 13–16). The prize money of the Jaipur Open has been raised from INR 40 lakh to INR 1 crore.
The TATA Steel Tour Championship, carrying a prize purse of INR 3 crore, the highest on the PGTI, will again be the season finale featuring the top 60 on the Order of Merit and a few invitees. The tournament will be held at the Golmuri & Beldih Golf Courses in Jamshedpur from December 21–24.
Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “The line-up of events and handsome prize purse on offer in the second half makes 2023 our strongest season ever. The non-stop golfing action from August to December, the launch of three new events, the addition of a new venue and new sponsors, reflect the sustained positive growth of Indian professional golf. We look forward to the action-packed months ahead and thank PGTI members, our sponsors, tour partners and the host venues of all events this season for their support and cooperation in helping us take the tour to new heights.”
