PGTI Golf: Udayan Mane leads the Indian field

Ahmedabad, Feb 21 (IANS) The top Indian professionals led by Olympian and 2021 PGTI Order of Merit champion Udayan Mane, Karandeep Kochhar, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Manu Gandas, Om Prakash Chouhan, Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Abhijit Singh Chadha will tee off on February 22 in the second edition of the Gujarat Open Golf Championship at the Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club here.

The tournament carrying a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh is scheduled to be played from February 22 to 25. The foreign challenge will be led by Sri Lanka's Mithun Perera, Australia's Kunal Bhasin, Nepal's Sukra Bahadur Rai and the Bangladeshi quintet of Md Akbar Hossain, Md Muaj, Md Somrat Sikdar, Md Sayum and Md Shakhawat Hossain Sohel.

The local challenge will be led by Gujarat-based professionals Varun Parikh, Anshul Patel, Jay Pandya, Shravan Desai and Arshpreet Thind. The Gujarat-based amateurs in the field are Rajiv Vasa, Dhruv Suri and Rachit Mankoti.

Olympian Udayan Mane, the reigning PGTI Order of Merit champion and one of the tournament favourites, said, "I'm excited about playing the Gujarat Open 2022 as it's always a treat to play in Kalhaar, one of the top championship venues in India. I play at Kalhaar quite regularly and it is almost like a home course for me.

"I've also won at this venue in the past and that adds to my confidence this week. It's a course where the approach shots demand a lot of precision. I would like to carry forward the momentum from last year's Order of Merit win. I thank the sponsors for their support of the event," he said.

The tournament comprises a field of 126 players including 123 professionals and three amateurs. The event is set to feature some of the top Indian professionals.

Commenting on the season's beginner tournament, Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, "We're excited about beginning the season with the Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2022 presented by Gujarat Tourism at the magnificent Kalhaar Blues & Greens.

"We thank Gujarat Tourism for their continued support to Indian professional golf and the PGTI. The tournament will play an important role in promoting Gujarat as a golfing destination. We wish the players all the best, welcome the rookies on the tour and look forward to a highly competitive season," he said.