GOODRICKE EAST INDIA AMATEUR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS

GOODRICKE EAST INDIA AMATEUR GOLF CHAMPIONSHIPS 2011-Nksagar-Sagar Media Inc:17^th December, 2011,  Kolkata : The Goodricke East India Amateur Golf Championship, the oldest amateur golfing event outside England, tees off at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club on 19^th December 2011 and will conclude on 25^th December 2011.

Indian golf has seen a major upswing in recent times with our professionals leaving their mark on foreign shores with a host of sterling performances led by Arjun Atwal, Jeev Milkha Singh, Jyoti Randhawa, Rahil Gangjee and S. S. P. Chowrasia. All these professionals started their careers as amateurs and coming to Kolkata for the Goodricke East India Amateur Championship was an annual pilgrimage for these stars.

The event is played over both a stroke play and match play format. The 36 holes stroke play event acts as a qualifying round to select the 32 players, who then play the knockout stage over five rounds. The challenging and grueling format throws up a lot of surprises. Being an IGU categorized tournament, it is of great significance to amateur players for earning ranking points. There are about 90 entries. Entries have been restricted to players having handicap of 6 and under.

Indian sports have seen golf in the limeClight this year. The Goodricke East India Amateur Golf Championship has been the cradle for some of India’s finest golf stars. Last year Chandigarh’s Abhijit Chaddha won the Stroke play title beating Samaresh Sardar of RCGC. Karan Vasudeva went on to win the Match play title beating Suraj Ali another RCGC player.

This year’s event has attracted India’s best amateur golfing talent including Delhi’s Gagan Varma, Abhijit Chadha, Ashbeer Singh Saini, Jasjeet Singh, Angad Cheema and the No. 1 amateur player of the country, S Chickarangappa from Bangalore. The prodigious talent of Kolkata golfers like Lakshman Singh, Surya Prakash, Samaresh Sardar, Raja Sardar, Suraj Ali will also be on show. Very competitive and grueling golf is certainly on the cards.

Goodricke East India Championship covers both major formats of the game. The 36 holes Stroke play competition is the curtain raiser to select the 32 man field who will then participate in the Match play event.

Goodricke, famous for its exclusive range of teas has broadened the event this year to include an invitee’s event which will encompass the entire golfing fraternity of the city with reserved spots for juniors, Ladies and different age groups including our Senior golfers (over 50 years) of age. This event will be played on the 24^th December, 2010. To keep the interest alive in the main event for spectators a unique contest of “pick the Winner” of 25^th December 2011 with some exclusive prizes has been introduced.

The Royal Calcutta Golf Club after the onslaught of the monsoons has seen a great deal of renovation with strategically placed new water bodies and freshly contoured greens providing the perfect setting for this historical event on a course that can boast of its long tradition dating back to 1829. The icing on the cake would be to have a Kolkata bred winner, which we missed narrowly last year.