Tata Steel PGTI begins 2021 with inaugural Gujarat Open Golf Championship

The Tata Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) will begin 2021 with the launch of a new event, the Gujarat Tourism - Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021.

The tournament is scheduled to be played at the magnificent Kalhaar Blues & Greens Golf Club in Ahmedabad from February 16 to 19 this year.

An official release said there is immense potential for golf tourism in Gujarat thanks to the wide variety and high quality of golf courses on offer for the business and leisure traveller. It said Golf tourism has in recent years emerged as a special segment of tourism worldwide and the Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021, presented by Gujarat Tourism provides the state a great opportunity to tap into this potential.

The tournament, the eighth event of the 2020-21 PGTI season, carries a prize purse of Rs 30 lakh. Gujarat Tourism has come on board as the presenting partner for the event.

The tournament is set to feature some of the top Indian professionals such as international winners SSP Chawrasia, Rahil Gangjee, Rashid Khan, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Chikkarangappa, Viraj Madappa and Khalin Joshi along with the highest-ranked Indian in the world Udayan Mane and PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar.

The foreign challenge will be led by Sri Lanka's Mithun Perera and Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossian Mollah. The local challenge will be led by Gujarat-based professionals Varun Parikh, Anshul Patel, Jay Pandya, Shravan Desai and Arshpreet Thind.

Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI said they are excited about beginning the year with a new event, the Gujarat Open Golf Championship 2021 presented by Gujarat Tourism. "We thank Gujarat Tourism for partnering with PGTI in launching this event. The tournament will help promote Gujarat as an ideal golfing destination. We're also delighted to be back at the magnificent Kalhaar Blues & Greens after three years and thank them for their support to this event. We wish the players all the best and look forward to an action-packed year," he said.

( With inputs from ANI )