Kolkata, Mar 20:
The $ 300,000 purse Kolkata Challenge beginning from March 21-24 at the RCGC here will mark the return of an international event after a long gap of 25 years in which Indian challenge to be led among others Arjun Atwal, SSP Chawrasia, Gaganjeet Bhullar, Om Prakash Chouhan, Manu Gandas, and Rashid Khan.
The European Challenge Tour, TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), and Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) jointly organised the four-day mega event in which the leading names from the Challenge Tour in the field include Road to Mallorca Ranking Number One John Parry of England, Mikael Lindberg and Bjorn Akesson from Sweden, France’s Martin Couvra, and Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard, to name a few.
The Indian contingent will be led by legends Arjun Atwal and SSP Chawrasia, both playing at their home course. Interestingly, Arjun Atwal, a PGA Tour and three-time DP World Tour winner won the last international event to be staged at RCGC, the 1999 Indian Open. Olympian SSPChawrasia, a four-time DP World Tour winner, was the joint runner-up at the 1999 Indian Open.
The other Indian stars in the field include DP World Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar, Challenge Tour winner, and 2023 TATA Steel PGTI Ranking champion Om Prakash Chouhan, current TATA Steel PGTI Ranking leader Manu Gandas, Rashid Khan, Olympian Udayan Mane, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Chikkarangappa, and Karandeep Kochhar among others.
The tournament is co-sanctioned by the Challenge Tour and the TATA Steel PGTI, carries a prize purse of US$ 300,000, and constitutes the secondevent in the two-week Indian swing of the Challenge Tour.
“We are proud to host the Kolkata Challenge, an international event at RCGC, after 25 years. We welcome all the overseas and PGTI players.” said RCGC captain Gaurav Ghosh.
Jamie Hodges, Challenge Tour Director, said, “It’s great to be in Kolkata for the first time in the Challenge Tour’s history. After an outstanding week in Delhi, we’re delighted to be here for the second of back-to-back events in the country and to be working closely once again with our friends at the PGTI.
“The historic venue of Royal Calcutta Golf Club is the perfect setting for four days of competition between some of the best golfing talentfrom the PGTI and Europe.
“These events are crucial in the early part of our season, to ensure playing opportunities for our members at a time when it’s difficult for us to play in most of Europe. It’s going to be an exciting week. We thank the Challenge Tour and RCGC for partnering with us in launching the Kolkata Challenge. The excitement is palpable for golf fans in Kolkata as an international tournament returns to the sports-loving city and to the iconic RCGC, one of the traditional centres and nurseries of Indian golf, for the first time since 1999.
“We’re confident the event will go a long way in re-establishing RCGC as a major venue for international events,” PGTI CEO Uttam Singh Mundy told reporters.
