Greater Noida, Feb 27 (.) In order to facilitate greater engagement between professional Golfers and passionate amateur players, Professional Golf Tour of India(PGTI) organised the ’72 the league Pro Am invitational’ at the Jaypee Golf course here on Friday.
The Pro Am event is being held in the middle of the ongoing ’72 The League’, which is India’s first franchise based professional Golf league.
After the third round on Thursday, UP Prometheans and Rajasthan Regals are joint toppers in the standings, having 32 points each.
Speaking to ., UP Prometheus player Arjun Sharma felt that his franchise is one of the strongest and most balanced squads in the league hence registering positive results
“I think we are doing very well as we have a very deep squad, lot of good players, for me and Bikram this(JP Greens) is our home course so we have an advantage, yesterday was a good day, we won all our matches and looking forward to the next rounds.”
Arjun said that he is enjoying the team format of the league. “The format is slightly different for us as we are not used to playing in teams. However, there is very good camaraderie among us, it’s a lot of fun. We are getting to know our teammates, discuss about the game and all that. The league is great for the players, they are getting paid well.”
Charminar Champions’ Sri Lankan player Thangaraja shared his experience of playing in the league. “I am playing this format for the first time, I think everyone is enjoying playing this. I have played at several places in India, conditions are good here, I feel with tournaments like these in 5-6 years some players of the PGTI will play the PGA.”
Former Director of the Central Bureau of Investigation(CBI) Anil Sinha, an avid Golfer also participated in the Pro- Am event, and felt that the league is highly competitive and will equip Indian players to be globally competitive.
“Start of ’72 the league’ is a remarkable development. Till now Golf was being played more as a hobby and serious, professional golfers didn’t have a format in which they could test their skills at the highest level. Certain competitive edge has been missing from golfing skills of Indian professional golfers, so that they can go out and compete globally. Through the league the PGTI is filling this gap, they are bringing that level of golfing which is required to be at par with the best in the world. In the coming days our golfers will compete with the best in the world and do India proud.”
US based Abhi Anuket, who is currently visiting India also found time to be a part of the Pro Am event. He said that franchise-based league was long overdue. “We need more leagues. Golf has grown fast in Asia as a whole and in India it has picked up very well, still there is a lot of room for growth.” . . KK
