Pune, 30-11-2021

Pune Open Golf Championship 2021 to tee off on December 1

The TATA Steel Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India, will be staging the fifth edition of the Pune Open Golf Championship at the Poona Club Golf Course from December 1 – 4, 2021. The tournament which is the last full-field event of the TATA Steel PGTI’s 2020-2021 season before the season-ending TATA Steel Tour Championship, carries a prize purse of Rs. 40 lakh. The Pro-Am event is scheduled for December 5.

The tournament is supported by Event Partners Gujarat Tourism, Incredible India, Singleton, Westin Pune and the Poona Club Golf Course.

The tournament will feature leading Indian names such as defending champion Kshitij Naveed Kaul, Manu Gandas, Yuvraj Singh Sandhu, Om Prakash Chouhan, Akshay Sharma, Mukesh Kumar, Shamim Khan and Amardeep Malik, to name a few.

The international challenge will be led by Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, Anura Rohana, N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Bangladeshis Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain as well as Australian Kunal Bhasin.

The host city of Pune will be represented by professionals Gurki Shergill (a former winner on PGTI), Pravin Pathare, Sameer M Shaikh, Rajiv Datar, Sagar Raghuvanshi, Jaideep Patwardhan, Sunil Baburao Galfade and Rajaram Baburao Shinde as well as amateur Rohan Dhole Patil.

This is a 72-hole stroke-play tournament featuring a field of 126 players including 123 professionals and three amateurs. The cut will be applied after the first 36 holes. The top 50 players and ties will make the halfway cut and continue to play for another 36 holes.

Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “The Pune Open, now in its fifth edition, is today one of PGTI’s most prestigious events in the western region of the country. This year there is the added excitement of the Pune Open being the final PGTI event before the season-ending Tour Championship later next month. With spots in the top-60 for the Tour Championship up for grabs, one can expect intense competition as the players would be vying for those spots and their exemption for next year. We thank the Poona Club Golf Course and all the event partners for partnering with us in staging this event in the city which is fast-emerging as a golfing hub in the country.”

Mr. Lalit Chinchankar, Captain, Poona Club Golf Course, said, “The Pune Open is a great opportunity for our junior and amateur golfers to gain exposure to golf at the highest level which will benefit their game. The tournament also helps us showcase the Poona Club Golf Course as a leading championship venue in the country. We wish the players all the best.”

The Poona Club Golf Course, the venue for the event, is spread over 100 acres and dotted with majestic banyan trees and other flowering trees. The course, which is one of the top championship venues in the country, is well appreciated for its water bodies and fast and true greens. The course has staged many National level professional, amateur and junior events over the years.