1st professional golf event in Meghalaya in nine years
SHILLONG: The inaugural Chief Minister’s Meghalaya Professional Open Golf Tournament which will be the first professional golf event in Shillong in nine years, will kick off at the Shillong Golf Course here on Wednesday.
The Rs 40 lakh tournament, the highest ever for any event in the Northeastren region, is being organized by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in the country. The event will be staged from November 12 – 15. The Pro-Am event will be played on November 16.
The tournament is expected to feature some of the leading Indian professionals like Shamim Khan, Mukesh Kumar, Shankar Das, Harendra Gupta, Om Prakash Chouhan, Khalin Joshi, Angad Cheema, Manav Jaini and Abhinav Lohan. The prominent foreign players to take part in the tournament are Sri Lankans K Prabagaran and N Thangaraja and Bangladeshi Md Zamal Hossain Mollah.
“PGTI’s debut in Meghalaya will help create a platform for the growth of the sport and golf tourism in the region. We seek to build a strong foundation for the sport in North East India with the staging of professional events. We sincerely offer our appreciation and thanks to Chief Minister of Meghalaya, Dr. Mukul Sangma, for his patronage and vision in supporting PGTI to stage the event and leverage opportunities for the state and the sport. We also thank the Shillong Golf Course for partnering with the PGTI,” PGTI director Padamjit Sandhu said while addressing a press conference here on Tuesday.
Tournament organizing committee chairman AL Hek said that it is great to have a professional golf tournament in the city after a gap of nine years.
Gaurav Bajaj, organising secretary, said, “This event will be a turning point for the Shillong Golf Course. We have tried our level best to maintain the Golf Course as per the required standards for hosting a professional tournament.”
The State will be represented by four local amateurs – Rahul Bajaj, Gaurav Bajaj, Anthony Hek and Jonathan Iawphniaw. In the professional category Jit Bahadur Chettri, Johnwell Momin, Jeevan Sharma, Gautam Lama, Roshan Lama, Naeed Akhtar and Kitrbha Warjri will represent the state. Asian Games Gold Medalist and Arjuna Awardee Amit Luthra and junior world champion Shubham Jaglan were also present at the Shillong Golf Course on Tuesday to promote professional golf in Meghalaya.