Srinagar: The biggest professional Golf event of J&K featuring top golfers from all over India, J&K Open 2021 is all set to be held at Royal Springs Golf Course (RSGC) from September 15 to 18.
The professional golf championship that boosts prize money of Rs 40 lakh is being organised by Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, along with J&K Tourism. After the J&K Open event, the Pro-Am event will be held on September 19.
The J&K Open will witness participation of 125 golfers which include 119 professionals and six amateurs.
The event is supported by Presenting Partner J&K Tourism, Principal Partner J&K Golf Development & Management Authority, Royal Springs Golf Course and Associate Partner Incredible India.
The tournament is part of J&K Tourism’s initiative of promoting golf tourism in the region owing to some spectacular golf courses such as Royal Springs Golf Course (Srinagar), Pahalgam Golf Course (Lidder Valley), Gulmarg Golf Club and Jammu Tawi Golf Course.
J&K Open is going to feature some top superstar golfers of India, which include Olympian Udayan Mane, Jyoti Randhawa, PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, as well as international winners such as Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa and Chikkarangappa S (former winner at Royal Springs Golf Course) as well as other leading Indian players such as Aman Raj, Kshitij Naveed Kaul and Manu Gandas, to name a few. The foreign challenge will be led by the Bangladeshi duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain.
The local challenge will be led by J&K-based players including professionals such as Bhawani Singh Parmar, Pawan Parihar, Fayaz Ahmed Langoo and Raghav Wahi as well as amateurs such as Sanjeev Dugra, Shabir Ahmad Bhat, Zubair Hasan Zargar, Arsalan Rah, Adnan Rah and Umar Yaqoob Mir.
Speaking on the occasion of announcing the event in a function held at RSGC on Tuesday Secretary Tourism and Culture Sarmad Hafeez, said, “We are proud to be supporting the J&K Open 2021 presented by J&K Tourism as Golf Tourism is an integral part of our larger objective to promote tourism in J&K. The return of men’s professional golf to the Kashmir valley gives us a great opportunity to showcase J&K as an attractive golfing destination. We look forward to a mutually beneficial partnership with the PGTI.”
Director, J&K Tourism, Dr. G N Itoo, said, “J&K has a wide variety of magnificent golf courses which provide the ultimate golfing experience to tourists. With the staging of events such as the J&K Open 2021 Presented by J&K Tourism we look forward to transforming J&K into a major hub for Golf Tourism and into the Golfing Capital of the country.”
“The staging of the J&K Open 2021 presented by J&K Tourism is another positive trend for the PGTI since the resumption of the tour in the first week of September. The tournament is in line with our long-term objective of promoting professional golf in different parts of the country in order to grow the sport further. We appreciate the support of J&K Tourism, J&K Golf Development & Management Authority and the Royal Springs Golf Course in helping us stage this event,” said CEO, PGTI, Uttam Singh Mundy.