Report by Anand Datla
September 02, 2014: The stage is set for a spectacular tournament of golf at Crans-Montana, a resort town in Switzerland. India has a strong field of golfers in contention this week – Anirban Lahiri, Rashid Khan and Gaganjeet Bhullar shall all be on the tee when the main tournament kicks off on Thursday. Anirban Lahiri made a winning start to his week, when he won the the Credit Suisse Silver Pro-Am, also called the Flory Van Donck Trophy.
In cold, windy conditions, Lahiri and a team of three amateurs (Laurent Morer (France), Jean-François Duret (France) and Alexandre Le Roy (Switzerland)) won the trophy in a contest between 144 participants, clubbed into 36 flights. “By the end of the day, we were in our polos. The conditions were excellent. That’s the magic of Crans-Montana”, says Jean-Luc Rochat, Head of the French-Speaking region for Credit Suisse. Lahiri’s team finished -17 to claim the trophy.
The host of the day played with the Belgian professional Nicolas Colsaerts: “If everyone were as nice as him during a Pro-Am, it would be a lot pleasanter. Moreover, it’s the first time that I get to play in this competition which bears the name of one of my fellow countrymen. It is dear to my heart.” Nicolas Colsaerts, like all the other professionals today, used this day to his advantage by calibrating his game and getting used to the altitude. “As a Belgian, I am not used to playing at 1500 metres. I need some time to adapt. Because we all know that golf is a sport which depends on minute details”
Wednesday will witness the Credit Suisse Gold Pro-Am. Shiv Kapur will tee off at 0735 hours local time alongside amateurs – Gabriele Gandolfi, Mauro Ajani and Joel Grival. Siddikur Rahman will be in action around 0800am with Erwin Heri, Neal Kutner and Ian Harris. Lahiri will take to the course in the afternoon session with Brian Martin, Simon Loh Jee Thong and Werner Estlinbaum just after 0100pm.
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