NEW DELHI - Oct. 5, 2004 - The Amby Valley PGAI Tour is all set for its northern leg after four successful weeks of South India. The HT Pro Golf 2004 followed by the ONGC-NGC Open will form the fifth and the sixth legs of the Tour.
Both the Tournament offer approximately $21,500 each in prize money, with the winners’ cheque totaling $3,500 in each event.
The Pro Golf tournament will be played at the Classic Golf Resort, on the outskirts of New Delhi, from October 6 to 10, with the final day being used for the pro-am event, while the ONGC tournament will be played at the Noida Golf Course and will see the pro-am event teeing off first on October 12 followed by the main event commencing on October 13.
Speaking to reporters at the launch function, S.K. Sinha, of Amby Valley Golf Club said,
"Golf is the fastest growing sport in this part of the world. Keeping this in mind we aim to provide our golfers with the right infrastructure and opportunities to develop and evolve their game to a better level."
He added, "At the Amby Valley we have the latest in golfing equipment and training
facilities not to mention the state-of-the-art golf course, which is the need of the hour."
India number two on the money list, Ashok Kumar, who bagged the "Best Golfer" award,
said, "I am looking forward to putting my best foot forward for the Northern Open,
especially since I am sitting on a rare opportunity of a hat-trick of wins." Ashok
registered back-to-back win at the Hindu Open in Chennai and the Hero Honda Open in
Bangalore last month.
"North is my territory and that should give me a edge over Mukesh Kumar," added the 23-year-old, who is not very far behind the Tour Money List leader.
"Ashok is playing some really hot golf but I am not letting go of the lead," said the leader Mukesh Kumar.
"Last year he deprived me of my fourth successive Order of Merit tile. This year, I will fight tooth and nail to make it my own," he added. "The Tour has already been witness to some terrific success, especially after Amby
Valley adopted it and what’s more the competition among the players has increased
with the raise in prize money, " said Brandon de Souza of Tiger Sports marketing.
The other big names in the fray are: Vijay Kumar, Shiv Kapur, Gaurav Ghei, Sandeep
Syal, Harinder Gupta, Feroz Ali, Ali Sher, Uttam Singh Mundy and Arjun Singh.
