The first of the 3 club qualifiers in Bangalore, held at the Eagleton Golf Resorts on Friday, saw Saif Makhri book one of the three amateur spots available on the local team. Displaying fine golfing skills and great understanding of his home course, Saif Makhri (H-cap 14) triumphed with a final score of 38 points, calculated under the Stableford Format; edging off Raghu Varma (H-cap 11) by a single point and last year's winner Satish B K by 4 points.
A delighted Makhri will now be, British Open hero, Anirban Lahiri's team-mate and play alongside India's top pro golfers on the first two days of the Louis Philippe Cup for the Pro-Am Title, which will be determined by the combined 36 hole scores of the three pro and three amateur members. However, the scores of the three 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.
Last year's finalists, Puravankara Bangalore, shall now await the two other amateurs to be decided at Club Qualifiers scheduled to be held at KGA on the 14th and 15th of December, and at the Bangalore Golf Club on the 21st and 22nd of December.
With Greater Noida geared up to host, Golf's version of IPL, the Louis Philippe Cup in its second edition will boast of teams of all the top eighteen ranked golfers on the PGTI circuit, and have already confirmed participation of European Tour success, Jeev Milkha Singh (Noida), recent winner of McLeod Russel championship - SSP Chowrasia (Chennai) and two time Asian Tour winner Gaganjeet Bhullar (Chandigarh).
