Event
The CG Open will be played at the Bombay Presidency Golf club from the 23rd-26th November for the ninth time. The event which has a handsome purse of Rs 1 crore will be the last event of the month where the pursuit of the “Rolex player of the year” title will further intensify with only three events remaining on the calendar before the Mcleod Russel Tour Championship at Kolkatta.
The event has been one of the longest-running tournaments on the PGTI schedule as CG and PGTI have enjoyed mutual benefits through a fruitful association. The event has garnered high praise all-round for being one of the few smoothly-run, prestigious and exclusive golf championships in the country.
It attracts an array of golfing talents with the best players always wanting to tee it up at the event which takes place in the crucial month of November leading up to the final month of the season, December, where it all gets decided.
This week, nine out of the top 10 in the Rolex rankings will challenge for the title with the event featuring Rashid Khan, Shubhankar Sharma, Khalin Joshi, Ajeetesh Sandhu, Honey Baisoya, Mukesh Kumar, Udayan Mane, Shankar Das, Shamim Khan and Om Prakash Chouhan, to name a few,
The field will also include winners of tournaments earlier in the season like Amardip Sinh Malik, Harendra Gupta and Abhijit Singh Chadha. Defending champion Ashok Kumar will be looking to ward off the challenge from a strong field in a bid to defend his title at the CG Open.
The prominent foreign players in the field besides the Mumbai-based Kunal Bhasin are: Sri Lanka’s N Thangaraja, Anura Rohana and K Prabagaran and Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah.
It features a field of 126 golfers with 120 professionals and 6 amateurs participating. A 36-hole cut will see the top 50 players and ties proceed to the weekend where you can expect a display of some high - quality golf.
The two prominent Mumbai players in the field are Anil Bajrang Mane and Wilson Raj D’Mello.
Honey Baisoya has been on a hot-streak winning the last two events building up to the CG Open and is a man to look out for this week. The top few players in the Rolex rankings will be looking to make their own moves in an attempt to leapfrog Chikkarangappa at the top of the standings.
Sponsors
About CG
Avantha Group Company CG is a global pioneering leader in the management and application of electrical energy. With more than 10,000 employees across its operations in around 85 countries, CG provides electrical products, systems and services for utilities, power generation and industries. The company is organised into three business groups: Power, Industrial, and Automation.For more information on CG, please visit: www.cgglobal.com
About Avantha
The Avantha Group’s entities in diversified sectors include Crompton Greaves (power transmission and distribution equipment and services), BILT (paper and pulp), The Global Green Company Limited (food processing), Biltech Building Elements Limited (infrastructure), Avantha Power (energy), Avantha Business Solutions Limited (IT and ITES), Jg Glass (glass containers). With a global footprint, the Group operates in 90 countries with more than 25,000 employees worldwide.For more information on Avantha, please visit: www.avanthagroup.com
About PGTI
Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognized 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 Winners
The former CG Open champions contending this year include defending champion Ashok Kumar, Harendra Gupta, Mandeo Singh Pathania and Australian, Kunal Bhasin.
2007 – Ashok Kumar
2008 – No event
2009 at Willingdon Sports Club – Kunal Bhasin
2010 – Mandeo Singh Pathania
2011 – Jyoti Randhawa
2012 – Harendra Gupta
Chikkarangappa, the 2013 and 2014 champion will not be in the field this week.
2015 – Ashok Kumar
Course
It all began in 1927, with the founding of a club with the rather unimaginative name of “The New Club Ltd.”, at Sewree on reclaimed land belonging to the port trust. The ground was over grown with weeds and was very tedious to maintain, so it was not very difficult for Mr. Carron, the chief engineer, to persuade the trust to sell 100 acres of it for the purpose of golf at a monthly rental of Rs. 150.
In 1937, 25 acres were purchased from St. Anthony’s Home Co-op Society for Rs. 37,000. In 1943, a large tract of land to the left of the clubhouse was requisitioned by the Military authorities to house the officers and the men of ‘Combined Operations’.
The land would get de-requisitioned and came back to the club but Mr. Morarji Desai, by then probably the Chief Minister, passing by on a drive, happened to hear of this, and passed orders for it to be de-requisitioned immediately once again and acquired it on behalf of the Government.
This became a home for the refugees from Sind, whose descendants are still the club’s neighbours across the wall which was built later. Mr. T.W.Brough, President of the Club from 1948 to 1950 sold some more land to the club at a cost much lower than the prevailing market price, a truly generous act.
Had the club not been forced to give up the acreage it did, the course would have been able to spread itself out even more and the length would have been considered truly challenging.
The BPGC is the most prestigious golf club in Mumbai and in 2009, it underwent extensive redesign & modifications. It’s a very demanding course and has a large member community that is largely focused on golf.
The course is a par-70 track with a total yardage nof 6148 yards. It was overhauled in 2009 by the Nelson & Haworth golf design firm.
Gurbaaz Mann holds the present course record of 63 which was recorded in 2010. The course has a total of seven water bodies which make for tricky golf holes.
The shortest hole on the course is the 10th which is a 140-yard-par-3. The longest hole, which is also the toughest hole on the course as per the members, is the 4th hole which is a par 5 of 508 yards.
Comments
Speaking on the tournament, Avantha Group Company CG’s CEO & Managing Director, Mr. K. N. Neelkant said, “CG Open has grown into being considered one of the most exclusive and prestigious golfing championships in the country and attracts some of the best golfing talents every year.”
“It has been our pleasure to host this prestigious event and endorse the sport through our association. We thank PGTI for being our partner in turning this event into one of the most sought after golfing events. I wish the players the very best for the tournament”.
Speaking on the occasion, Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGTI, said, “We thank CG for their renewed commitment to Indian professional golf since the CG Open, now in its ninth edition, has been one of the longest-running tournaments on the PGTI.”
“The CG Open 2016 promises an enthralling week of golf as India’s leading professionals tee it up with an eye on the handsome prize purse of Rs. 1 crore and the Rolex Player of the Year title, which is still up for grabs.”
