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Event
The first stage of the 2017 qualifying school will be held at Kensville Golf & Country Club in Ahmedabad this week from 13th to 14th January. Due to a high number of participants, the event is being staged as two different tournaments: Pre Qualifying 1(10th-11th Jan) and Pre- Qualifying 2 (13th-14th Jan).
The event will offer no prize money but will guarantee participation in the final stage for the top 36 players and ties and assure them of conditional status on tour for the 2017 season at the very least.
There are 115 golfers vying for 36 spots in the final stage this week and the level of competition will be fierce as this Q school is a once in a year tournament that offers the only route to rising golfers to make it on India’s no.1 Golf tour. The qualifiers will join the already exempt 47 players for the final stage where the field will comprise of 120 golfers.
Course
Situated in an idyllic location off Dev Dholera, 40 kms from Ahmedabad, the Kensville Golf course is Gujarat’s first truly international 18 hole championship course. With Jeev Milkha Singh as its brand ambassador & a European PGA sanctioned event venue tag, this is a must play course.
It is surrounded by places of historical, cultural and environmental significance – Lothal the seat of one of the most ancient civilizations ; the home of the Tarnetar Mela an event attended by folks from all over ; sanctuaries like the magnificient Nalsarovar bird sanctuary etc.
The course is part of a integrated luxury real estate project with Villas, townhouses etc & also has 50 luxury rooms with a club house and a host of leisure facilities including tennis, a swimming pool, gym, squash, biiliards etc. A health spa & a holistic health village are also planned.
The Kensville course has the unique distinction of being the host course for a European PGA sanctioned tour event in 2011 & 2012. The course was opened in 2006 & is a very tight course with narrow fairways & a lot of out of bounds in play.
The terrain is flat & there are a lot of trees along the sides of the fairways. Ditches / hazards – there is water in play on 13 holes – make this a challenging course layout.With a bird sanctuary around the corner you will be treated to the spectacle of a host of migratory birds during the migratory season. The course also has a 300 year old temple on the 14th hole which has been carefully retained.
Sponsors
About PGTI:
Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognised official body of professional golf in India. PGTI's objective is to promote professional golf in the country, as well as to give players an opportunity to be involved in the decision making on all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Gautam Thapar (President), PGTI's governing body comprises leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.
Past Champions
2014 – Sanjeev Kumar, Indrajit Bhalotia and Balwinder Singh Mattu
2015 – Md Nazim and K Raghav Bhandari
2016 – Veer Ahlawat (A)
Inside the Field
Who’s in the field for the second event of the 2017 PGTI Qualifying School – First Stage:
9.QUALIFYING SCHOOL
1 RAMESH KUMAR2 SRIKANTA M3 M NAZIR ALI4 RAJ RANDHAWA5 SHEERAZ KALRA6 MONISH BINDRA7 KULDEEP SINGH8 BHAWANI SINGH RATHORE (A)9 ALBIE HANEKOM10 DHRUV DARVESH KUMAR (A)11 RAJA SARDAR12 VASHISTA S PAWAR13 SHUBHAM JINDAL14 SURESH C15 AMARDEEP RAWAT16 ADITYA SINGH CHAUHAN17 P PRABHU18 ARUN KUMAR19 FAYAZ AHMED LANGOO20 GEORGE PUSHPARAJ21 ZUBIN NIJHAWAN (A)22 ARJUN VEER SINGH CHUGH23 VIKAS VENUGOPAL24 ROHIT SINGH25 SAGAR RAGHUVANSHI26 PRADEEP KUMAR (DGC)27 ASHISH SHARMA28 MANISH GOYAL29 BHUVAN SINGH RATHORE30 AMAR JEET BAISOYA31 SAMARESH SARDAR32 GAURAV REXWAL33 CHANDRASEKAR R34 RAJESH KUMAR (S)35 SATYAVIR SINGH36 ARYAVIR KUMAR (A)37 RAKESH GOKUL SINGH38 ARJUN SINGH (AS)39 MANOJ KUMAR (D)40 MARTIN S41 UMESH M42 RISHI43 ABDUL RAHEEM K H44 DUSHYANT PUROHIT45 RAVI VERMA46 SAHIL KAPOOR (A)47 PUNEET PURI48 ROSHAN SHARMA49 VIJITHA BANDARA50 PRADEEP KUMAR (C)51 ARJUN MALIK52 MADESH KRISHNA53 RAHUL MALIK54 ANSHUL PLAHA55 BHANU PRAKASH56 GAURAV VERMA57 JEEVAN SHARMA58 MADHUSUDAN C S59 MOHAMMED ARIF60 PIYUSH KUMAR61 ROHAN BAHRI62 SAGIR ALI KHAN63 SANTOSH M SHETTY64 VENKATESH S65 VIJAY UPADHAYAY66 ZUBAIR HASAN ZARGAR67 LAKSHYA DEV MUDGIL68 NAEEM AKHTAR69 VIRAJEET SANDHU (A)70 ABHAY NAUTIYAL71 AKBAR PASHA72 KUMAR M73 KUMAR R74 M ANAND75 MANI P76 SRINIVASA KG77 VIKAS I78 SHUBHAM NARAIN (A)79 TAPENDRA GHAI (A)80 KARTIKEY VASHIST (A)81 HITENDER KUMAR MEHTA82 RAJAT (A)83 RAOBRINDER SIDHU (A)84 MANJIT SINGH85 PAWAN KUMAR YADAV (A)86 ABHIRAAJ HAJELA (A)87 AJAY SINGH88 DEEPAK PATOLE89 GURDEV CHIMNI (A)90 ANIL KUMAR (B)91 ARTHUR HORNE92 DAMIAN NAICKER93 GEORGE DE BRUYN94 GURKIRAT SINGH (A)95 HAIDER HUSSAIN (A)96 IKRAB GHAI (A)97 K SATHYA SEELAN98 K SHANKAR99 KUNAL NAIDU (A)100 MANTASH SINGH (A)101 MOHAMMAD BASHEER102 PANKAJ RAHUL SINGH103 PRANAV KAUSHIK (A)104 RAVI MANDAL105 S.N.G.L.V RAJU (A)106 SACHIDANAND KENI (A)107 SANDEEP RAMDAS RAMTEKE108 SARTHAK KOHLI (A)109 VIRAJ MADAPPA (A)110 SWATANTER KUMAR111 AMIT KUMAR112 PREM113 SULEMAN ALI114 BHOOP SINGH115 MANOJ BHARDWAJ
