Preview and Field watch: 15th TATA Open

Event

The 15^th TATA open will be hosted at Golmuri Golf course from the 15^th – 18^th Dec in Jamshedpur. The event which offers 75 lakh as prize money will be the 15^th rendering of the TATA Open and will be a key tournament for all players as it is the penutimate tournament of the season.

Players who have already secured their cards will be looking to post a high finish and those who are still fighting to secure their cards will receive one final chance before the McLeod Russel Tour championship where only the top 50 on the Rolex rankings will get a spot.

The Race to Royal Calcutta Golf club will also heat up with all the top 10 players on the Rolex rankings present at the tournament. The event has been a part of the PGTI schedule since the tour came together back in 2007.

Speaking about the initiative Mr Sunil Bhaskaran, Vice President, Corporate Services, Tata Steel said “Come winter and Jamshedpur looks forward to hosting India’s top golfing talent on the occasion of the Tata Open Golf tournament.”

“The event has grown in popularity over the years and the Steel city is delighted with the presence of the golfing stalwarts. Watching them in action, at the new and improved Golmuri Golf Course is a treat. With its commitment to furthering sporting activities, Tata Steel is proud to be associated with this event”

Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, Director, PGTI, said, “The 15th TATA Open is likely to witness a classic contest as the top professionals in the country look to stake claim to the coveted Rolex Player of the Year title. The added incentive for players to finish inside the top 60 to earn their exemptions for next year’s PGTI season makes the contest even more exciting.”

“The sustained support of sponsors such as the TATA STEEL Group has helped the PGTI build a strong foundation for professional golf in India over the last decade. We thank the TATA STEEL Group for their committed support to the sport and look forward to another successful edition of the TATA Open.”

The tournament will feature some of the top Indian professionals such as defending champion Mukesh Kumar, Chikkarangappa, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Shamim Khan, Shubhankar Sharma, Shankar Das and Honey Baisoya, to name a few.

The top foreign players in the field are Sri Lankans Mithun Perera, Anura Rohana, K Prabagaran and N Thangaraja, Kunal Bhasin of Australia, Bangladesh’s Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Nepal’s Toran Bikram Shahi. The local challenge will be led by professional Karan Taunk of Jamshedpur. The field also features six promising amateurs from Jamshedpur – Aditya Panchamiya, Arush Sabharwal, Dheer Dutta, Kurush Heerjee, Pawan Marwa and Shivam Kamani.

Course

The Golmuri golf course at Jamshedpur was originally a 9 hole course that was established around 1988 & along with Beldih, it hosted the Tata open every year. The course underwent renovation and was redesigned to be a 18 hole, 6600 yard +, Par 71 layout with Bermuda greens & fairways in April 2012. It now hosts the prestigious TATA open on its own every year.

The course is well looked after and is manicured to suit the needs of the best players of India. It is a tihgt tree-lined golf course with penalising rough and an array of creeks that can cause damae to your score-card.

Sponsors

About Tata Steel and Sports

Tata Steel Group stands among the top global steel companies with an annual crude steel capacity of 28 million tonnes per annum (MnTPA) and a turnover of US $17.69 billion in FY16. It is the world's second-most geographically-diversified steel producer, with operations in 26 countries and commercial presence in over 50 countries.

Established in 1907, the Group’s vision is to be the world steel industry benchmark in “Value Creation” and “Corporate Citizenship” through the excellence of its people, its innovative approach and overall conduct. Underpinning this vision is a performance culture committed to aspiration targets, safety and social responsibility, continuous improvement, openness and transparency.

Having bagged the Deming Application Prize and Deming Grand Prize for continuous improvement in 2008 and 2012 respectively, Tata Steel has now been recognised as the global ‘Industry Leader’ in ‘Steel category’ by Dow Jones Sustainability Index. Besides being one of ‘worldsteel’s’ Climate Action members, it has also been awarded the CII ITC Sustainability Prize, the ‘Best-in-class Manufacturing’ by TIME Award, the Prime Minister’s Trophy for the best performing integrated steel plant, among several others. Tata Steel is the only Indian company to invest in world-class sports facilities, create academies and maintain and manage international level arenas. The cadets of its Tata Football Academy, the nursery for the sport in India, as well as those of the Tata Archery Academy, the only one of its kind for archery, have justified the faith that the Company has put in the talent and ability of its youth.

Today, a significant part of the Indian Football team, India’s best archers, some of its finest cricketers, athletes, shooters, a Grand Master and several national and international legends have realized their dreams as a result of the support they have received from TATA Steel Sports Academies.

About PGTI

Formed in 2006, Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is the recognized official body of professional golf in India. PGTI’s objective is to promote professional golf in the country as well as give players an opportunity to be involved in decision making for all aspects of the game. Headed by Mr. Gautam Thapar (President), PGTI’s governing body comprises of leading Indian golf professionals. PGTI currently has over 300 members.

Past Champions

2007 – SSP Chawrasia

2008 – Mukesh Kumar

2009 – Gurki Shergill

2010 – Ashok Kumar

2011 – Vinod Kumar

2012 – Mithun Perera

2013 – M Dharma

2014 – Om Prakash Chouhan

2015 – Mukesh Kumar

Fied Watch

A look at who is in the field and how they qualified:

1.PGTI ORDER OF MERIT CHAMPIONS

1 CHIKKARANGAPPA S2 SHANKAR DAS3 RASHID KHAN4 SHAMIM KHAN

2.PGTI MULTIPLE TOURNAMENT WINNERS

5 MUKESH KUMAR6 HONEY BAISOYA7 SHUBHANKAR SHARMA8 UDAYAN MANE9 OM PRAKASH CHOUHAN10 MITHUN PERERA

3.PGTI TOURNAMENT WINNERS

11 KHALIN H JOSHI12 HARENDRA GUPTA13 FEROZ ALI MOLLAH14 ABHIJIT SINGH CHADHA15 N THANGARAJA16 AMARDIP SINH MALIK17 SANJAY KUMAR18 ANURA ROHANA19 K PRABAGARAN

4(a).TOUR SPONSOR

20 HIMMAT SINGH RAI21 NAYAZ PASHA B

4(b).TOURNAMENT SPONSOR

22 SAMARESH SARDAR23 VASHISTA S PAWAR24 VARUN SAHAY25 INDRAJIT BHALOTIA26 DIPANKAR KAUSHAL27 RAFICK ALI MOLLAH

4(c).CLUB SPOTS

28 PINTU RAJAK29 SK ABBAS ALI

5(a).PGTI ORDER OF MERIT

30 M DHARMA31 ABHINAV LOHAN32 SUJJAN SINGH33 VINOD KUMAR34 C MUNIYAPPA35 GAURAV PRATAP SINGH36 VIKRANT CHOPRA37 RAHUL BAJAJ38 DEEPINDER SINGH KULLAR39 ARJUN SINGH (DGC)40 RANJIT SINGH41 SANJEEV KUMAR (L)42 ANGAD CHEEMA43 MANAV JAINI44 KAPIL KUMAR45 DIGVIJAY SINGH46 MD ZAMAL HOSSAIN MOLLAH47 FEROZ SINGH GAREWAL48 NAMAN DAWAR49 SUDHIR SHARMA50 KUNAL BHASIN51 PRATAP ATWAL52 DIVYANSHU BAJAJ53 KARAN TAUNK54 ABHISHEK JHA55 R MURTHY56 MOHAMMAD SANJU57 K RAGHAV BHANDARI58 TRISHUL CHINNAPPA59 SIDDHARTH SEMWAL60 MANU GANDAS61 MANIRAM62 MARI MUTHU R63 ADITYA BHANDARKAR64 AKSHAY SHARMA65 ABHISHEK KUHAR66 C G SOMIAH67 ANIL BAJRANG MANE68 PAWAN KUMAR

5(b).MEDICAL EXEMPTIONS

69 MANDEO SINGH PATHANIA

7.PGTI BOARD EXEMPTION

70 VIJAY KUMAR

9.QUALIFYING SCHOOL

71 AMAN RAJ72 VEER AHLAWAT73 SYED SAQIB AHMED74 VISHAL SINGH75 SACHIN BAISOYA76 WASIM KHAN77 SHIVENDRA SINGH SISODIA78 SAMARTH DWIVEDI79 ANKUR CHADHA80 SAMEER M SHAIKH81 RUDRESH SHARMA82 ADITYA RAJ KUMAR CHAUHAN83 PRADEEP KUMAR (N)84 PRAVIN J PATHARE85 KUNAAL BHATIA86 KARAN VASUDEVA87 RAJU SINGH88 B G LALITH KUMARA89 ARJUN SINGH CHAUDHRI90 RAJESH KUMAR RAWAT91 GURKI SHERGILL92 AMARDEEP RAWAT93 BHOOP SINGH94 DEVENDRA PATEL95 RAJU ALI MOLLAH96 MANOJ KUMAR97 ARJUN SHARMA98 GUNVIR RANA99 MOINUDDIN MALAK100 PAWAN VERMA101 PRANAV KAUL102 HARISH K103 GULFAM104 MD ISLAM105 KUSHAL SINGH106 CHANDARJEET YADAV107 SHIVAAM A TIBREWAL108 SAHIL KULKARNI109 NUR HOSSAIN SARDAR110 GAURAV GHEI111 TORAN BIKRAM SHAHI112 AJAY BAISOYA113 RAJIV KUMAR JATIWAL114 KPS SEKHON115 MD NAWAB116 RAMESH KUMAR117 ROHAN KATHURIA118 WILSON RAJ D MELLO119 ASHISH KUMAR GUPTA120 DEVINDER SINGH

AMATEUR

121 ADITYA PANCHAMIYA (A)122 ARUSH SABHARWAL (A)123 DHEER DUTTA (A)124 KURUSH HEERJEE (A)125 PAWAN MARWA (A)126 SHIVAM KAMANI (A)