Golf: PGTI announces events calendar for second half of 2022 season

New Delhi, July 17 (IANS) The second half of the PGTI season will resume from August 17 with the organisers announcing a strong line-up of 14 events.

The 14 events is a shot in the arm for Indian professional golf as it boasts prize money in excess of Rs. 11 crore thereby taking the season's total prize purse to over Rs 18 crore.

The events include three new ones in Kapil Dev-Grant Thornton Invitational, SSP Chawrasia Invitational and Vooty Masters, all carrying a prize purse of Rs. 1 crore each.

The first half of the season consisted of eight events and was followed by the mid-season break. The action will now resume with the Tata Steel PGTI Players Championship 2022 presented by KGISL which will be played at the Coimbatore Golf Club from August 17 - 20 marking PGTI's return to Coimbatore after eight years.

The following week, PGTI will hold its first ever event at the TNGF Cosmo Golf Course and make its return to Chennai after four years with the staging of the third edition of the Chennai Open Golf Championship from August 23 - 26.

The Jammu Tawi Golf Course in Jammu will be yet another new venue for the tour as the J&K Open presented by J&K Tourism, staged in Srinagar during its inaugural edition in 2021, moves from the Kashmir valley to the Jammu region. The event will be held from September 7 - 10.

Thereafter, the fifth edition of the Jaipur Open will be held at the Rambagh Golf Club from September 14 - 17.

The month of October begins with the TATA Steel PGTI Players Championship at the Panchkula Golf Club which will be played from October 4 - 7.

The fifth edition of the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational presented by TAKE is to be played at the Chandigarh Golf Club from October 13 - 16. The event carries a prize purse of Rs. 1.5 crore.

This will be followed by the sixth edition of the Pune Open to be staged at the Poona Club Golf Course from October 19 - 22 and the second edition of the MP Cup slated from October 26 - 29.

The inaugural Kapil Dev-Grant Thornton Golf Invitational worth Rs 1 crore in prize money is scheduled from November 1 - 4.

The IndianOil Servo Masters Golf returns for its 22nd edition. The tournament will be staged from November 16 - 19 at the Digboi Golf Links.

Dream Valley presents Vooty Masters, also offering a prize purse of Rs 1 crore, is another new event added to the schedule. The event scheduled for November 24 - 27also takes the PGTI to a new venue - Vooty Golf County in Vikarabad, Telangana.

The eighth edition of the Golconda Masters is up next to be played from November 30 - December 3 at the Hyderabad Golf Association.

The third new event to be launched worth Rs. 1 crore is the SSP Chawrasia Invitational presented by TAKE which will be staged at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club from December 8 - 11. This is the second event to be named in honour of an Indian golfing legend after the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational.

The season-ending TATA Steel Tour Championship will carry a record prize purse of Rs. 3 crore as its prize money has been increased by 100 per cent this year. The event featuring the top-60 on the Order of Merit along with a few invites will be held at the Golmuri & Beldih Golf Courses in Jamshedpur from December 15 - 18.

Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, "We are delighted to announce a strong second half of the season in terms of prize money and number of events which makes 2022 one of our most lucrative seasons ever. The PGTI will witness non-stop golfing action from August to December with the launch of three new events coming as a major boost for Indian professional golf. We are also pleased to further expand our footprint across the country with the addition of three new venues. We look forward to the exciting months ahead and thank PGTI members, our sponsors, tour partners and the host venues of the forthcoming events for all their support and cooperation in helping us bounce back from the difficult times experienced during the pandemic."