By IANS
New Delhi : India’s golfing cream will lock horns with the best from all over Asia in a new Asian Tour event to be backed by the Steel Authority of India (SAIL) next month.
The event, which has been added the Asian Tour calendar is yet another indication of the growing strength of India as a golfing power with three major international tournaments lined up inside a month.
The inaugural SAIL Open Golf Championship 2008 will be held at the Greg Norman designed Jaypee Greens, Noida.
Among the top stars of the region confirming their participation of the event scheduled from Feb 20 to 23, 2008 are India’s Jeev Milkha Singh, who recently was given an invitation to play at the 2008 Masters at Augusta National. Others confirming their participation include Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal and Gaurav Ghei, besides a host of top stars from all over Asia such as Thai stars Thaworn Wiratchant and Prayaad Marksaeng, China’s Liang Wen Chong and Singapore’s Mardan Mamat.
SAIL, India’s largest integrated steel producer, which has been actively involved in promoting various sports, including hockey, football, tennis, cricket and athletics, is making its first foray into international golf with the SAIL Open, an event, which will be jointly sanctioned by the Asian Tour and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
The event is scheduled to be held from Feb 20 to 23 and will see the participation of all major stars from Asia and India.
A Pro-Am event will be held Feb 24, where leaders of Indian industry and the government will play alongside the top professionals and get valuable tips from them to help them improve their weekend golf.
The tournament comes at a time when the golfing fraternity’s focus will be on India, which is hosting a series of international events in February like the Emaar Indian Masters and the Johnnie Walker Classic.
The venue, Jaypee Greens is one of the finest in India. The SAIL Open will be yet another opportunity for Jaypee Greens to showcase its world-class facilities and its growing reputation as one of the finest courses in South Asia. “As one of the first world-class designer courses in North India, Jaypee Greens has a special place in Indian golf. We are proud to host the top stars of Asia and India and we hope the event will help our existing stars and upcoming talent to compete with the best in the continent,” said Rita Dixit, Executive President, Jaypee Greens.
Mr. Ajai Gupta, Tour Commissioner of PGTI, added: “Indian golf has finally come of age. The prize money in Indian golf, as also Asian golf, is now commensurate with the quality that we have. I am sure the emergence of the SAIL Open Golf Championship 2008 at Jaypee Greens as a new event on Indian soil and on the Asian Tour will further enhance India’s contribution to the promotion of the sport in the continent.”
Lending his support to the tournament is legendary Kapil Dev, former India cricket captain, who is now devoted to golf. An avid golfer, Dev is also a Director of the Asian Tour.
“After playing cricket for a better part of my life, now I am involved with golf, too. I feel this is one more sport where Indians are capable of achieving world-class standards. Our boys are already playing in the biggest events and it is only a matter of time before they bring more trophies. Jeev Milkha, Arjun Atwal and Jyoti Randhawa have already been doing it and we can look forward to more such successes and I hope the SAIL Open can help in that,” said Kapil.
As the official sanctioning body for professional golf in Asia, the Asian Tour leads the development of golf across the region. Through its membership of the International Federation of PGA Tours, the Asian Tour is the only recognised pan-Asian professional golf tour in Asia. This unique feature positions the Asian Tour at the pinnacle of professional golf in Asia; providing its events with Official World Ranking status.
The event is being promoted by ADPROS and Fast Forward India and being managed by World Sport Group.