NEW DELHI -- The Professional Golfers’ Association of India recently launched the ‘PGAI Hall of Fame’ at a grand ceremony staged at the Hotel Oberoi. A first in Indian sport, the ‘PGAI Hall of Fame’ is an attempt to recognize and acknowledge the achievements of some of the great players, administrators and contributors to the game.

In a visionary declaration, Shri. Arvind Khanna – President-PGAI also announced the launch of the National Golf Development Programme titled ‘Indian Golf Vision 2020’, which will aim at producing champions for the future.

The PGAI Hall of Fame in its first year honoured the legendary Billoo Sethi who won the Indian Open as an amateur, Rohtas Singh, winner of over 100 tournaments in a career spanning over 35 years, also known as the Guruji of Indian golf, Basad Ali, legendary Kolkatan golfer who holds the record of maximum titles in a single season and Ranjit Nanda, India’s first and perhaps finest golf course architect.

Chosen to be felicitated by the PGAI in the initial year were ITC Ltd. and Hero Honda – for their tremendous support to Indian golf in its early years. A special ‘Lifetime Achievement Award’ was presented to Dr. Bharat Ram, one of the founder members of the Delhi Golf Club and a veritable doyen of Indian golf.

“The people who have been acknowledged in the inaugural awards ceremony are the ones who set the ball rolling in their respective fields and we take this opportunity to salute them”, said PGAI President Arvind Khanna.

The ‘Amby Valley PGAI Tour’s 2005-06’ season was also launched during the evening. The function featured an awards ceremony, where the following golfers / institutions were felicitated for the season gone by. Champion Golf Course of the Year – Amby Valley Golf Course; Champion Golfer of the Year – Mukesh Kumar; Champion Rookie of the Year – Sujjan Singh; Champion Putter of the Year – Shiv Kapur.

The new ‘Amby Valley PGAI Tour’ season will witness a minimum of 20 tournaments with a guaranteed sum of Rs 3.40 crores as prize money. The events will be played not just across the length and breadth of India but will transcend international boundaries. The Tour operating under the aegis of the Professional Golfers’ Association of India, will continued to be marketed and managed by the Delhi based Tiger Sports Marketing.