Professional Golf Tour of India growing from strength to strength

PGTI Calendar of events and Sponsorships

There’s a lot in process for the 2017 season and the future. 2018 onwards, we are looking to add more events on the calendar which will help in elevating the stature of the tour. Adding to the growth in the number of events, there will be world ranking points associated with PGTI events which is ground breaking for Indian golf.

Sponsorships have been tough to come by for the last 2-3 years which ahs definitely put us back with regards to our plans. Demonetization has not really helped our cause either with a lot of sponsors backing out of deals and certainothers waiting for the effects to die down. It’s been tough going for the PGTI board and our partnerships have not grown at the same rate as the rate of expansion of the tour.

But, we’re heaaded for brighter prospects. There’s been a lot of positive interest and feedback in terms of new events and new sponsors whether it be associate sponsors, presenting sponsors or title sponsors have offered us there full support so that is promising.

In 2017, we have already announced 7 events for the first half of the season and are on the verge of an eighth. As compared to six last year for the first half, we’re at a better stand pointand I can safely say that these numbers are going to go up on a consistent basis. Increase in a number of events leads to a rise in prize money goes up and all statistical numbers go up as a result.

We at the PGTI are putting in a lot of efforts and are approaching people and companies for a wider spread of the Indian professional golf scene. We have adopted a couple of new models and have subsequently been able to get new sponsors by way of associate sponsors,presenting sponsors, title sponsors for smaller sums as opposed to targeting one company for a larger sum.

It’s become a lot more easier for us and targeting more companies has been quite a receptive model. We are also waiting for companes that are still coming out of the money situation and hopefullythey jump right back on the bandwagon.

---

Young players coming to the fore and raising the bar

The tour has seen a huge difference in terms of winning scores. We now have players winning with high double-digit scores and cuts going lower than ever before. The potential and standard of golf has risen immensely in the last couple of years. It goes to show the standard of golf that is being played when there are 50 odd players at 1 over or even par and better

The number of Indian players playing on the Asian tour has shot up this year and a lot of that has to do with better performances on the Professional Golf Tour of India. It’s good to seen an increase in numbers of players on tour and more so in the number of improved players we have.

It was refreshing to see the number of amateurs entering q school this year and following their dreams of playing professional golf. It was truly remarkabe and welcoming to see the numbers of participation increasing. With five amateurs gaining full cards and some more gettig their B cards, it’s definitely a sign of a shift in Indian golf and a change that we have been wanting to see for some time now.

Our main objective is to create a platform for players to progress and go out. I feel we are doing a good job of giving them opportunities to shine and use our tour as a stepping stone. Obviously, all the big players want to go out and play abroad so it’s great to have more budding golfers and a bigger pool of talent playing at home.

---

Partnership with the Asian Tour and World Ranking points coming to the PGTI

When quizzed about a bigger role of Asian Tour in India and more events, he added, there are talks in process about more events in India, the Asian Tour wants more events and so do we so I think it’s a matter of time and a matter of the deal being penned down. Indians have done well at home in the past so I think it will be great to have more events.

It offers a launchpad for the Indian players to play well and make money to move up the Order of merit and have a chance of retaining their cards. It’s a process and until it’s official, we cannot saynything for sure but things are on the up.

In the next 5 years, we look forward to having a greater number of events except for the summer time due to the heat and the monsoon. It will give players a bigger schedule to choose from and they can have the liberty of playing events that they like and missing the ones that are not their favourites.

Adding world ranking points to our events from 2018, although it’s not official, will do a lot for the tour. We will see a lot more international players participating and an increase the playing field will lead to a rise in sponsorships. It’s a game changer for Indian golf and will revolutionize the dynamics of the sport in India.