Hindu-Open launches new golf season

Ashwin Krishnan

The Hindu group, one of the leading sponsors of golf in Madras, continues its association with the game, as the 2000-2001 PGAI season of the Wills Sport Golf Tour kick-starts with the Hindu Open, to be played at the 6,654-yard, par-72 Cosmopolitan Club Golf course from the 23 to 27 August.

A number of leading golfers will participate in the event, including defending champion and leading prize-money winner for the past three seasons on the tour, Vijay Kumar; ‘Player of the Year’ award winner for the 1999-2000 season Mukesh Kumar; two-time Indian Open winner and winner of this event in 1997 Ali Sher; three-time winner of the Cosmo-Hindu Open at this very venue Gaurav Ghei; ’98 Indian Open winner Feroz Ali; ‘2000-2001 season Q-School winner Amish Jaitha; All-India Amateur championship winner and Rookie golfer Rahul Ganapathy; joint runner-up at the ’99 Indian Open SSP Chowrasia; veteran golfers and winners of two-tournaments each last season Rohtas Singh and Shiv Prakash; Indrajit Bhalotia, Amritinder Singh, Uttam Singh Mundy; Arjuna awardee and ‘Rookie of the Year’ for the 1999-2000 season Harmeet Kahlon and a number of promising golfers like Tarun Sardesai and Raju Ali.

Vijay Kumar, holding the mantle of defending champion for the week, is definitely one of the favourites to win in Madras. His awesome hitting ability and in-built confidence gives him an edge over the rest of the field. Vijay carded three wins last season including one at the biggest event on the Wills Sport Golf Tour, the Rs 28-lakh Honda-Siel PGA Championship and topped the money list raking in a cool Rs 11,85,124 from 16 events.

The ‘Player of the Year’ award would have done immense good to Mukesh’s Kumar’s self-confidence. Last season, the Mhow based golfer carded three wins with 17 top-ten finishes from 19 starts, edging ahead of Feroz Ali in the stroke average by half a point. The award boosted Mukesh’s season earnings of Rs 8,93,132 by Rs 7 lakhs.

Feroz Ali has two scores to settle. Finishing runner-up here last year and losing out on the year-ending ‘Player of the Year’ award by as slender a margin as half-a-point on the stroke averages, would have frustrated the golfer no ends. Determined as he is, one can be sure Feroz will be gunning for nothing less than a top spot finish here. Feroz won three events last year, and earned a purse of Rs 10,17,549 in 18 starts.

Amish Jaitha, the Q-School winner for the 2000-2001 season and the Rahul Ganapathy, who will be making his debut in professional golf with this event, will be keen to make an impression.

Ali Sher and Gaurav Ghei are two other golfers who have done well here previously and with their intricate knowledge of the course, both pose a considerable threat to the field.

The tournament will also witness four Sri Lankan amateurs, including their top-two players, Anura Rohana and Tissa Chandradasa as well as amateurs one each from Pune and Hyderabad, Jaideep Patwardhan and Krishna Reddy in action.

The Cosmopolitan Club golf course wears a new look owing to the overall face-lift it has received over the past few months. Some of the changes made to the course include the digging of a new pond to increase water supply, the removal of over 75 thorn trees and bushes which acted as an obstruction to the growth of other trees and the general sprucing-up of the bunkers and greens on the course.

Under the able guidance of the Golf captain, D Sathyanarayanan and N Murali, the golf course is today wearing a festive look and is the ideal venue to launch what promises to be a rewarding Wills Sport Golf Tour.

A debt of gratitude is due from the members of the professional golfing community to the Championship Community who have made all this possible and sincere thanks are due to the president P Gandhi and his co-members for their unstinted support.