NEW DELHI – Oct. 12, 2004 – Ashok Kumar will lead a full strength field into the ONGC-Noida Open 2004, to begin at the par-72 Noida Golf Course, New Delhi from 13th October, 2004.
The sixth leg of the 2004-05 Amby Valley PGAI Tour is scheduled to tee off with the Pro-am on the 12th, with the main event played from 13th to 16th October. The tournament will be inaugurated by Mr N Lal, Director (Technology and Field Services) and Dr AK Balyan, Director (Human Resources), both ONGC, on the Pro-Am day. The ONGC Noida Open 2004 will be sponsored by the Oil and Natural Gas Corporation, who return as sponsors on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour after a year ‘s lay-off.
The tournament will be managed by the Delhi based Tiger Sports Marketing. “We are excited about our return as sponsors on the Indian PGA Tour,” said Major Vinod Krishna, In-charge Corporate Communications, ONGC. “The ONGC-NGC Open has in the past been a regular stop on the Tour and provided some very entertaining golf to the lovers of the sport in the National Capital Region. ONGC has always been committed to promoting golf in India, both at Amateur and Pro levels. With this tournament we reiterate our desire to promote the fastest growing sport in this part of the world,” he added.
“The ONGC-Noida Open’s return to the Amby Valley PGAI Tour is excellent news for Indian golf,” said Digraj Singh, Managing Director, Tiger Sports Marketing. “The popularity of the tournament can be judged from the quality of field it has attracted. With the likes of Ashok Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Shiv Kapur and Vijay Kumar leading the field we have some very competitive golf lying in wait. The prestige value attached to the ONGC-NGC Open will ensure every golfer participating this week will be vying for nothing short of glory,” he added.
The chief contest at the ONGC-NGC Open will be between Order of Merit leader Ashok Kumar and Mukesh Kumar. Ashok, who surged ahead of three-time Money List winner Mukesh with his third straight Tour win at the HT Pro-Golf 2004 last week at the Classic Golf Resort, currently enjoys a Rs 1,00,400 lead over his immediate rival. With the top prize purse at Noida worth Rs 1,62,000, Mukesh has every chance to overtake Ashok.
However, another win for Ashok will further widen the gap. Meanwhile the likes of Asian Games gold medallist Shiv Kapur, former Amby Valley PGAI Tour leader Vijay Kumar, leading Rookie Harinder Gupta, and a host of top notch Asian PGA Tour professionals like Uttam Singh Mundy, Gaurav Ghei, Digvijay Singh, Feroz Ali and Vivek Bhandari to name a few will add further quality to the challenge.
The par-72 Noida Golf Course boasts of a tough layout. Lush green fairways are bordered by thick rough that threatens to swallow errant balls. Strategically placed bunkers and water-bodies add to the challenge while tricky and undulating greens unless well negotiated, could add to increasing numbers on the card.
