Avantha Masters returns to DLF Golf and Country Club with a star-studded field
Indian Golf will have another boaster shot with this week’s Avantha Masters, as the European Tour event returns to the DLF Golf and Country Club for the third consecutive year.
The rise of Indian golf has been phenomenal in the past few years, especially after the creation of the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) in 2006.
Several of the professional players in the country, who hardly got a chance to reach out to the celebrated events around the world, can now participate in event sanctioned by the European Tour, the Asian Tour and the PGTI simultaneously.
Director of the PGTI, Padamjit Sandhu, who laid the foundation for the establishment of the tour, is overwhelmed by the response and hopes the event will give a new impetus to the young generation of the country.
He said, "Before 2006, Indian golf had no clear direction and that’s why we decided there was a potential to get things organised and develop the game here".
He continued, "We then put a constitution in place, one that we thought was extremely transparent and eliminates any possibility of corruption or lobbying or anything of that sort".
Sandhu explained the modalities involved in the hiring process of the tour and the mode of promotion of the young players.
He said that it is essential that the board members must be among the top-60 players in the country which thereby reduces the chances of nepotism which may harm the primary cause of the creation of the tour.
He added, “We now have 20 events and we keep on growing. We also have five international events held in India and our big goal is to increase that number to eight events by 2016”.
Sandhu also said that the recent surge in the popularity of the sport has brought forth several aspiring golfers and their exposure in an international event will go a long way in laying the foundation of the sport on firm basis.
This will also be the first time that the four-day event will be showcased on TV channels and live telecasts throughout the world.
The tour signed a deal with the Live telecast giant Ten Sports a few days ago.
Sandhu considers it a huge breakthrough and hopes that the new “Live” status of the event will increase the already burgeoning popularity of golf.
Professional players in the Indian circuit had to settle for a ridiculously low incomes right at the beginning when tour was promulgated.
The players are now earning a whopping $100,000 a season through their various events both on the Indian turf and internationally.
Avantha Masters is one of the major golf events in the country, alongside the Indian Masters and has a mammoth purse of €1,800,000.
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