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City golfers David D’Souza handicap CAT (0-17) and Dr. Gaurav Sharma handicap CAT (18-24) qualified for the MercedesTrophy National Finals on Day 2 of Bengaluru Leg after carding a Nett. score of 70.4 and 72.4 respectively. The MercedesTrophy has so far seen 13 qualifiers including today who will be competing in the National Finals to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune from 4-6 April 2018.
Commenting after the win, Dr. Gaurav Sharma said, “It was a very well organized tournament and I am looking forward to playing in the finals.”
The second winner David D’souza said, “I am proud of my achievement and will certainly participate in the finals.”
The day also saw participation from Indian cricketers Karun Nair and Yazuvendra Chahal who tested their golf skills at the Prestige Golf Shire.
The best Gross Winner of the day was Hitesh Joshi with an excellent round of 77 and there were a host of other prizes on offer to be won on the day.
Prominent winners included Deepak who won the Ballantine’s Long Drive Challenge with a mammoth drive of 290 yards. Misha Paruthiwon the Mercedes-Benz Closest to Pin contest by landing the ball at 8ft from the pin on hole no. 2. In the Mercedes – Benz Closest to Pin in Two Shots, Ajay Kumar Gopal landed the ball at 6 ft. and 6 inches from the pin to win the contest on hole no. 11. Adit Morzaria who landed the ball at 1.4 ft. from the line won the Mercedes-Benz Straightest Drive contest.
The format of play was Double Peoria. This unique format of adjusting handicaps of players levels the playing field enabling golfers to have a greater chance of qualifying for the National Finals.
A total of 112 golfers participated on the second day in Bengaluru and will see another 112 golfers compete for two remaining qualification spots on the last day.
This year’s MercedesTrophy will host 27 days of golf across 12 Indian cities. Pune will also host the national finals at the Oxford Golf Resort between 4th and 6th April 2018.
This year for the first time, Mercedes-Benz’s global charity partner– Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is also associated with the tournament to raise funds for its programmes in India. While participants can donate online or on-ground at the tournament venue, Mercedes-Benz India will donate an equal amount to match the funds raised from participants.
Globally, MercedesTrophy witnesses participation of approximately 60,000 golfers from across 60 countries battling it out for the top prize, making it one of the world’s largest and most coveted sporting events.
The 18th edition of the MercedesTrophy after the Bengaluru qualifiers will travel to 8 more cities – Hyderabad, Coimbatore, Kolkata, Chennai, Chandigarh, Gurgaon, Noida and Jaipur. Forty-five winners will be selected from the qualifiers for the National Finals. The qualifiers end on March 11, 2018 in Jaipur.
Three winners of the National Finals will then compete against those from tournaments played in 60 countries all over the world in the 29th edition of the MercedesTrophy World Final to be held in Stuttgart, Germany. Mercedes-Benz is also providing an opportunity for beginners to learn golf through their Golf Clinic program.
