March 20, 2017: The Kolkata Classic Golf Championship is set to return for its second edition at the historic Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC) from March 21, 2017. The Kolkata Classic, the fourth event of the Professional Golf Tour of India’s (PGTI) 2017 season, carries a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh. The tournament will be played from March 21 to 24 with the Pro-Am event scheduled for March 25.
Alcove and LIC are the Associate Sponsors of the Kolkata Classic 2017. The Official Partners of the tournament include Flamingos, Halmari, Oak Gallerie and Veeba. Balaji Ads is the Outdoor Media Partner.
The tournament brings together some of India’s leading professionals such as reigning Indian Open champion and local lad SSP Chawrasia, Asian Tour regulars Rashid Khan (2016 PGTI Order of Merit champion), Chikkarangappa, Mukesh Kumar, Chiragh Kumar, as well as winners from the current PGTI season Ajeetesh Sandhu (2017 PGTI Order of Merit leader), Udayan Mane and Honey Baisoya. The foreign challenge will be led by the Sri Lankan trio of Mithun Perera, Anura Rohana and N Thangaraja as well as Australian Kunal Bhasin.
Besides Chawrasia, the field also features other prominent names from Kolkata such as Shankar Das (2014 PGTI Order of Merit champion), former Indian Open champion Feroz Ali Mollah, Divyanshu Bajaj and rookie Viraj Madappa.
This is a 72-hole stroke-play tournament featuring a field of 126 professionals. The cut will be applied after the first 36 holes. The top 50 players and ties will make the halfway cut and continue to play for another 36 holes.
Olympian SSP Chawrasia returns to his home course RCGC fresh from a remarkable second straight Indian Open triumph in Gurgaon two weeks back. The local favourite, who now has four European Tour titles to his credit, said, “I’ve had a great start to the season with victory at the Indian Open. It was a very special week for me as I won the coveted title for the second year running. I’m now delighted to be playing at my home course once again.
“I took a break from golf last week and didn’t practice at all. All my friends here at RCGC who watched me win the Indian Open on TV have been reliving the experience with me over the last week by discussing my performance and congratulating me.
“I’m excited about playing the Kolkata Classic. The tournament will go a long way in further promoting the sport in Kolkata. The field is quite strong this year with the likes of Rashid, Chikka and Chiragh participating. All of them have done well on the Asian Tour in the recent past. One can expect a pulsating contest. The RCGC course looks in great shape as always and one will require a good all round game to perform well here.”
Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “The Kolkata Classic provides us an ideal platform to further grow professional golf in the city of Kolkata which has over the years produced numerous players of international repute. The presence of big names in the field such as newly-crowned Indian Open champion SSP Chawrasia, Rashid Khan and Chikkarangappa make for an exciting week of golf. We wish the players all the best.”
Mr. Yashaswi Shroff, Director of Alcove Realty, the Associate Sponsors of the tournament, said, “The tournament is a great platform for young golfers for boosting their game and to make them more competitive. They get an opportunity to play with ace golfers such as SSP Chawrasia and Rashid Khan and their likes. The handsome prize purse on offer is a great incentive for the golfers.”
The venue for the tournament, the world-renowned Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC), is steeped in history, being the oldest golf club outside of the British Isles, having been established in 1829. It is widely regarded as the founder of the game in the country and has staged some of the most prestigious tournaments on Indian soil, including the Indian Open and the All India Amateur Championship. The 7237-yard course favours long hitters and inaccurate shots are punished severely. The large number of water hazards makes this course a real challenge to master.
PGTI Tour Release
