Mumbai, 19-02-2014
Gangjee sizzles with course record 62, AVT Kolkata in the lead
Rahil Gangjee of AVT Kolkata stole the opening day honours as he fired a new course record of 62 (8-under) in Round One of the Louis Philippe Cup at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Club, Chembur on Wednesday. His blazing effort bettered the previous record of 63 (7-under) set by Gurbaaz Mann in 2010.
The 35-year-old Gangjee’s remarkable feat ensured that the Kolkata team finished the day in front of the nine-team pack with a score of 129 (11-under). Gangjee’s teammate Shankar Das finished with a card of 67 (3-under) while third member of the team Chiragh Kumar was 3-over. As per the format the scores of the best two players are taken into consideration as the team total.
Krrish Colombo, Puravankara Bangalore and TAKE Chennai, jointly shared the third position, all with a score of 131 (9-under).
Navratna Ahmedabad with a combined total of 133 were placed fifth, while Jaypee Greens Greater Noida and Dev Ellora Lakshya Mumbai, jointly occupied the sixth spot with 135.
Shubhkamna Delhi were eighth with a score of 137 followed by DLF Gurgaon in ninth spot with 143.
Gangjee was surprised when informed that he had broken the course record. “It’s awesome. I didn’t even know about the record. My best score on this course was 6-under as an amateur in 2000-01,” he said.
“I had a total of 10 birdies, including five in a row on the back nine which was much easier as compared to the front nine,” he added.
Gangjee who started the day from the 10th tee opened the round with birdies on the 10th, 11th12th, 15th, 16th, 17th, 18th, 1st, 4th and 7th holes, while he dropped shots on the sixth and 14th.
The Kolkata pro also had no problems with the weather. “I did not feel out of sorts although it was really hot. I had to carefully select the clubs to control the swing.”
Puravankara Bangalore’s captain Anirban Lahiri was another star performer of Day One as he finished with a bogey free round of 65 (5-under). “Although I did not play my best it was a good round. I could have done better. I could not read the lines properly, but will speak to Chikkarangappa S because he also made a course record of 8-under a couple of years ago as an amateur and understands the greens here better than me,” said India’s highest ranked golfer in the world and No. 3 on the Asian Tour.
Himmat Rai representing Sri Lankan club Krish Colombo also had a satisfying day with a score of 65. “I had an excellent round which was very good. I hit the ball well from the tee to the green which helped to get into good positions. The team also combined well and we will stick to our game plan and put up another good display tomorrow,” said Rai, who was part of the winning team last year.
Louis Philippe Cup 2014 - Team standings (Round 1): AVT Kolkata 11-under-129 (Rahil Gangjee 62, Shankar Das 67, Chiragh Kumar 75); Puravankara Bangalore 9-under-131 (Anirban Lahiri 65, M Dharma 66, S Chikkarangappa 66) ; Krrish Colombo 9-under-131 (Himmat Rai 65, K Prabagaran 66, N Thangaraja 72); Take Chennai 9-under-131 (SSP Chowrasia 65, Manav Jaini 66, Mukesh Kumar 71); Navratna Ahmedabad 7-under-133 (Vikrant Chopra 72, Vinod Kumar 65, Mithun Perera 68); Jaypee Greens Greater Noida 5-under-135 (Angad Cheema 67, Sanjay Kumar 68, Gaganjeet Bhullar 69); Dev Ellora Laqshya Mumbai 5-under-135 (Jyoti Randhawa 67, Mohd Zamal Hossain Mollah 68, Harendra Gupta 70); Shubhkamna Delhi 3-under-137 (Shamim Khan 65, Rashid Khan 72, Jeev Milkha Singh 74); DLF Gurgaon 3-over-143 (Abhijit Chadha 70, Abhinav Lohan 74, Siddikur Rahman 73).
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