Lahiri, Jha compete to be in Puravankara Bangalore Team

On the penultimate day of the Crompton Greaves Open, as India's top Golfers continue their battle on the lush greens of The Bombay Presidency Golf Club, the standings at the end of this season-ending tournament will also determine the pro golfers who will represent their cities in the prestigious Louis Philippe Cup.



The Professional Golfers selected to play for Puravankara Bangalore will depend on their year-end PGTI Rankings and the choice of the sponsors. As per the current rankings fans can expect 2010 Panasonic Open winner Anirban Lahiri, youngster Abhishek Jha and seasoned golfer R. Murthy to be teeing off for Team Puravankara Bangalore.


Anirban Lahiri who ended 2010 ranked No.3 continued his good form in 2011 and won two of the six tournaments he participated in to retain his position at No.3 in the current rankings, possibly making him the only sure shot on the Puravankara Bangalore Team amongst the pros. Bangalore boy, 23-year-old Abhishek Jha competing in 16 tournaments this year, notching up 4 top ten finishes is ranked within the top 30 at No. 27 and he will perhaps have a place in the team. But experienced pro R. Murthy, who has had 3 top ten finishes in the 15 tournaments he has participated, and now ranked at no. 31 of the PGTI ranking may just shuffle his way in to either accompany or replace Young Jha.


Not too far behind on the PGTI rankings are R Srinivas, currently ranked 49 in the Rolex PGTI rankings, and M. Dharma currently at 54, making them strong contenders to earn themselves a berth in the Puravankara Bangalore team. However, this list could change.



Veteran golfer B.K Satish booked his berth in the Puravankara Bangalore amateur team with an upset win over youngster S. Chikkarangappa in the Eagleton Golf Resort qualifiers held in November. Playing off a Handicap of 0, Chikka lost out on a berth to B.K. Sathish on a technicality as the latter has a handicap of 12. Speculation is rife as to who else will make it to the amatuer team and play for the city alongside India's top pros for the Louis Philippe Pro-Am Title on the first two days of the tournament.


The next club qualifiers are scheduled to be held at Bangalore Golf Club on the 7th of January, 2012 where 175 golfers are expected to participate. The last club qualifier in Bangalore will be held at the Karnataka Golf Association course in mid- January where 18-year-old Khalin Joshi, one of India's top amateur golfers, is the favourite to qualify from a field of roughly 175 golfers.



Slated to begin on the 5th of March 2012, Louis Philippe Cup will see 3-member teams of amateur and professional golfers from Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkota, Ahmedabad, Lucknow, Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh battle it out for the winners' purse. Scheduled to be held at one of South Asia's best golf courses, the Karnataka Golf Association, the Louis Philippe Cup is the richest domestic event on the PGTI calendar. Puravankara will make an official announcement regarding the Puravankara Bangalore team in January, putting to rest all the speculations.

Bangalore team finishes third in World Golfers Invitational

K. Jothiramalalingam, captain of The Indian contingent for the World Golfers Championship & Indur Hirani, vice-captain, secured 3rd Place in the Invitational Team Event with a 4 day combined Nett Score of 604. They finished third out of 38 teams from 26 Countries which participated in the World Golfers Invitational Tournament at Durban, South Africa last week.


In the Invitational Tournament, held prior to the commencement of World Golfers Championships, Indur Hirani finished 1st in his handicap category, with a 4 day Nett score of 294, just 7 over par. In the same handicap category, K. Jothiramalingam tied for the third position with Veronika Boyko of Ukraine with a four day Nett Score of 310.

The 17th Amateur World Golfers Championship which was held in Kwa Zulu-Natal, South Africa, where 280 Golfers from 26 Countries including India, participated for 6 days, concluded on 4th Nov, 2011.The Tournament was held on 4 of South Africa's most challenging Golf Courses, Zimbali Country Club, Princess Grant Country Club, Umhlali Country Club and the famous Durban Country Club which has hosted the South African National Open on many occasions.


In the main World Golfers Championship, Team Thailand won 1st Place, followed by China and hosts South Africa finished 3rd. The Indian Team - comprising of the 5 winners of the Toyota Karnataka Golf Festival held in Karnataka Golf Association from 1st to 4th Sept, 2011 - finished 18th out of 26 countries.


This is the 3rd consecutive year that the team from Bangalore's Toyota Karnataka Golf Festival has qualified for the World Golfers' Championship, one of the largest amateur golf tournaments in the world which sees about 50,000 golfers from 36 countries vie for the top position. In 2009, well known Bangalore golfer Sumit Rathor had finished topped his handicap category in the invitational section, while in 2010 Utpal Desai triumphed in the 0-5 category in the main draw of the championship.


This year, the playing conditions were extremely difficult with a strong wind blowing across the Kwa Zulu - Natal province near Durban, during the 4 days of the event. As most of the participants found playing in four different golf courses extremely challenging, the organizers have decided to hold the 18th Annual Amateur World Golfers Championship on a single golf course in 2012. The Toyota Karnataka Golf Festival's 2012 edition will continue to be India's lone qualifying event for World Golfers Championships.

EAGLETON KICKS OFF LOUIS PHILIPPE CUP QUALIFYING

Bangalore's Eagleton Golf Resort will see over 100 amateur golfers vie for a place in the Puravankara Bangalore team that will represent the city in India's richest domestic golf event - the Louis Philippe Cup. The club qualifiers to be held in Eagleton Golf Resort on Friday (11/11/2011), will be the first of the 20 amateur qualifying rounds to be held in the eight participating cities across India -- Delhi, Mumbai, Gurgaon, Chandigarh, Kolkata, Chennai and Lucknow.



The new IPL-style event, with its US$250,000 purse, will be the richest domestic event on the PGTI calendar. India's top stars like former Asian Tour Player of the Year Jyoti Randhawa (Gurgaon), European Tour regular Shiv Kapur (Delhi), two time European Tour winner SSP Chowrasia (Kolkota), two time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar (Chandigarh), 2011 Asian Tour winner Anirban Lahiri (Bangalore), 2011 Singapore Classic winner Himmat Rai (Gurgaon) and current No. 1 in the Rolex-PGTI rankings Chiragh Kumar (Delhi) have all confirmed participation in the extravaganza.

The winning amateur from the Eagleton round will play on the Puravankara Bangalore team alongside professional stars Anirban Lahiri and his two teammates on the first two days of the Louis Philippe Cup. The combined 36 hole scores of the 3 member pro and 3 member amateur teams will determine the winners of the Pro-am Title. The scores of the 3 member pro team alone will determine which four pro city teams progress to the semi-finals and then the finals of the Louis Philippe Cup to be held in March 2012 at the Karnataka Golf Association, Bangalore.

The PGTI has launched this new inter-city team event in to provide some exciting golfing action for

100,000 strong golfing community across India and to create a stronger fan following for India's star professional players who have been performing outstandingly on the international pro tours and the strong . The tournament will see Rs. 36 lacs going to the winning 3 member pro team, while the team that finishes second will pocket Rs. 24 lacs. The third team on the podium will win a purse of 18 lacs and each team will win a minimum of Rs. 6 lacs for participating.

Rohan Bopanna and Pankaj Advani recognized by WEF as 'Global Shapers

'The Global Shapers' - an exclusive community of exceptional youth in their 20s, established by the World Economic Forum, welcomed two new entrants today with the induction of Ace Tennis Player, Rohan Bopanna and fellow Bangalorean and Celebrated Cuiest Pankaj Advani. The community comprises of a selected band of exceptional youth from across the world, possessing unique qualities and extraordinary achievements that set them apart from the mainstream. Representing all walks of life, these individuals are highly committed to developing their leadership potential towards serving society and adhere to the highest standards of moral and intellectual integrity.



"We are becoming increasingly aware that solutions to our global challenges must purposefully engage youth, at all levels -locally, regionally, nationally and globally. This generation has the passion, dynamism and entrepreneurial spirit to shape the future." Professor Klaus Schwab, Chairman of the World Economic Forum on the relevance of the Global Shapers and why World Economic Forum considers it as one of the most important initiatives. The Forum shall have a two pronged agenda - first in assisting the individual shapers who are already extraordinary in their achievements to further increase their role through their interactions with achievers from other spheres and second to provide them with a global platform to shape the future, and to catalyze, individually and collectively, fresh ideas and solutions for the world's most pressing solutions.


"The 'Global Shapers' drawn from various disciplines and fields would eventually unleash a new renaissance by catalysing and enhancing, individually and collectively, fresh ideas and entrepreneurial solutions to the world's most pressing challenges." Sangeeth Varghese, Founding Curator, Global Shapers.



The Community is a testament to the commitment of the World Economic Forum to improving the state of the world by engaging business, political, academic and other leaders of society to shape global, regional and industry agendas.

PGTI AND LOUIS PHILIPPE JOIN HANDS TO LAUNCH LOUIS PHILIPPE CUP WITH INDIA'S TOP PROFESSIONAL GOLFERS




(L-R) Mr.K Chandra Prakash, President - KGA; Mr.Padamjit Sandhu, Director - PGTI; Mr.Jacob John, Brand Head - Louis Philippe; Mr.Anirban Lahiri, Pro Golfer; Mr.Rishi Narain, Founder - Rishi Narain Golf Management 

  Inspired by the successful fan appeal of city based sports teams, the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), Louis Philippe and RNGM today joined hands to introduce a unique format of Golf to be played involving the top 16 national professional golfers. The US$250,000 Louis Philippe Cup is slated to be India's richest domestic tournament. To be played between 8 city based teams of India's top professional golfers, the tournament will be held in Bangalore at the KGA Golf Course between March 5th & 10th, 2012.


Star Indian players confirmed to participate include Bangalore's recent Asian Tour winner Anirban Lahiri, Gurgaon's 3 time Indian Open champion and former Asian Tour No. 1 Jyoti Randhawa accompanied by Singapore Classic winner Himmat Rai, also of Gurgaon. Two time European Tour winner SSP Chowrasia representing Kolkota, former Asian Games gold medallist and Asian Tour Newcomer of the Year Shiv Kapur representing Delhi, two time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar who will represent Chandigarh and all the top ranked players on the PGTI Tour will also compete.

Each city team will consist of three players. Two of whom will be selected on the basis of their PGTI 2011 rankings as of end December and the third player will be a team choice. Teams will have a chance to pick talented players that play primarily overseas and are unable to maintain their domestic rankings like Shiv Kapur, Jyoti Randhawa, SSP Chowrasia. The cities selected to field teams are Bangalore, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkota, Lucknow, Delhi, Gurgaon and Chandigarh. Cities have been selected on the basis of the rankings of their top players (Lucknow has two players consistently ranked in the top 10 of PGTI - Vijay and Sanjay Kumar) and the number of golf clubs in those cities.

Said Padamjit Sandhu, Director, PGTI "This is an important new innovation in format in professional golf and could potentially be a game changer in the way fans relate to India's top golf stars. We would like to thank Louis Philippe and Rishi Narain Golf Management for creating this new event on the PGTI Tour and we know that India's top players and members of the PGTI are excited to participate in the tournament, rooting for their team to end on top."

Speaking about their association with Golf, Jacob John, Brand Head, Louis Philippe, commented, "Louis Philippe is pleased to be associated with this stand out event in Indian golf. Golf is a game that symbolises style, sophistication and success, characteristics that are reflected in our brand." He further added that, "We encourage sports fans across the nation to support their city teams and recognise the outstanding quality of pro golfers India continues to produce. Young players like Anirban Lahiri, who has made his mark on the international scene along with other youngsters, all in their early twenties, such as Himmat Rai, Gaganjeet Bhullar, and most recently Delhi's Chiragh Kumar, who finished 2nd in the US$1.25 million Indian Open. All perfect examples that Indian golf is in safe hands for the future, making it a sport that Louis Philippe foresee a long term association with."

Star golfer Anirban Lahiri, present at the announcement said, "As professional tour players we don't get many opportunities to play team formats and it does add an entirely new exciting dimension to the game. I played on an Asian Games team for India, in Doha, where we won the silver medal and the pressure is entirely different. In fact on the global golf platform, the most appealing events for fans and players alike are the few team events like the Ryder Cup (USA v Europe); the President's Cup (USA v Rest of World outside Europe), Royal Trophy (Asia v Europe) and Dynasty Cup (Asia v Japan). We enjoying playing in team events and fans are extremely excited to watch and cheer for their teams. I will be a proud member of team Bangalore, if I do make the cut! And I also know my fellow pros are gearing up to do their best for their city teams also."

Rishi Narain, former Asiad gold medalist and founder of Rishi Narain Golf Management, who have conceived and promoted the event, said, "We would like to thank the team of Louis Philippe for embracing the Pro Team Golf concept and are looking forward to producing an event with unparalleled fan appeal on the domestic golf scene. Our aim is to establish India's immensely talented golf pros as genuine superstars in the eyes of sports fans across India. They deserve the recognition and fan following considering their consistent international victories over the past fifteen years. Among Indian sportsmen, golfers outperform almost every other Indian sportsman consistently. Indian pro golfers face intense competition against players from over 100 countries every time they compete overseas and with winner's prizes regularly crossing Rs 1 crore on the international circuit, the quality of players and intensity of competition our golfers face every week is far greater than in most other sports. We hope the "Louis Philippe Cup" will create true superstars out of our pro golfers and connect fans with their home team players like never before. We thank the PGTI and the players for their whole hearted support of this concept and the KGA for agreeing for giving us such a high quality venue to launch the first edition of the tournament."

President of KGA, K. Chandra Prakash averred "KGA is happy to be hosting this inaugural event which will be the richest men's pro event ever held in Bangalore, and have a great roster of India's top pros participating. We are happy that Louis Philippe and PGTI have selected KGA as the venue and hope that Anirban and his fellow team members will bring home the inaugural Louis Philippe Cup trophy home to Bangalore. On our part, we will ensure world class playing conditions for India's elite professionals and will work hard at maintaining our repurtation as "No 1 ranked golf course in India" for 2010 at the Asian Golf Awards in Bangkok."

The unique format of the five day event to be held in Bangalore next March features one day of celebrity pro-am followed by two days (36 holes) strokeplay in which all 8 teams will compete.The four teams with the best total team scores over 36 holes will advance to the semi-finals. In the semi - finals the format of the game changes to knock out and individual matchplay.The one on one matches between the three players on each team will earn each team one point for a win and zero for a loss. No match will be halved as tied matches after 18 holes will advance to sudden-death playoff.The two winning semi-final teams will play the finals on the final day on three individual matches."

As India's richest golf tournament, the winning team takes home Rs 36 lacs to be shared among the three players, the second team gets Rs 24 lacs,while the bronze medalists get a purse of Rs 18 lacs, the team placed fourth will recieve Rs 12 lacs in prize money,while teams placed 5th to 8th placed teams each receive Rs 6 lacs.

Providing fans avenues for involvement, each participating city will also field a team of three amateur club golfers who will be selected by local clubs on the basis of club qualifying tournaments. The three club amateurs will play alongside the professionals during the first two official rounds of strokeplay in the Louis Philippe Cup. The three amateur scores will be added to the pros scores to determine a "Louis Philippe Pro-Am Trophy" which will be presented after the first 36 holes of the tournament. However the amateur scores will not be counted in determining the four top teams advancing to the semi-finals. PGTI Director, Padamjit Sandhu opined, "Amateurs playing along with pros in big golf tournaments is a highly recognized practice the world over. On the European Tour, this is a feature of the annual GBP 5 million Alfred Dunhill Cup and on the USPGA Tour this is the format of the US$7 million Pebble Beach Pro-Am. In India this format of play was also popular through the DLF Masters."

Jacob John, Brand Head, Louis Philippe stated, "Fan involvement is a key element of the Louis Philippe Cup, and through this event we wanted to build a platform where true golf fans had a chance to play alongside the pros, a possibility and format that can only be adapted in sport such as golf, where the club golfer's performance does not affect the score and performance of the pro."

"As professionals we welcome the chance to play along with amateurs, our biggest fans. It is a great experience to guide them, mentor and coach them during the game. And their appreciation is very apparent when they see instant results in their shot selection, strategy and their ability in reading the greens. Also our rhythm rubs off on their swings and they often perform better. It is a great idea for the Louis Philippe Cup to provide club golfers a chance to be on the city team along with us. It's an experience, I hope, they will always remember and cherish", averred Bangalore's star professional Anirban Lahiri. Chandra Prakash, president of KGA added, "The chance for a club golfer to represent his city on the national stage and playing on the same platform as star pros from his city is a unique experience and I am sure KGA members will be excited about this opportunity."

The probable participants from the 8 cities, are as follows (PGTI rankings till date indicated beside the names) -



Delhi


Rashid Khan (3)



Chirag Kumar (7)



Ashok Kumar (10)



Shiv Kapur







Bengaluru



Anirban Lahiri (5)



Abhishek Jha (22)



R.Murthy (24)







Kolkata



Feroz Ali Mollah (12)



Shankar Das (15)



Arjun Atwal



SSP Chowrasia







Mumbai



Mukesh Kumar (1)



Kunal Bhasin (44)



Chennai



Mandeo Pathanai (25)



Gaurav Ghei (31)



Sandeep Syal (52)



Chandigarh



Gaganjeet Bhullar (4)



Harendra P Gupta (17)



Sujjan Singh (27)


Lucknow



Sanjay Kumar (8)



Vijay Kumar (14)



Manoj Kumar (87)


Gurgaon



Himmat Singh Rai (2)



Digvijay Singh (23)



Jyoti Randhwa



To follow this event, visit golfcommune.com/louisphilippecup