KOLKATA, India – Nov. 11, 2004 – The cream of Indian golfing talent led by the sensational Ashok Kumar will proceed to the eastern sector of the country to renew their rivalry on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour’s 2004-05 season. The battle will resume with the Tata Open, the seventh leg of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour, to be played at the ‘steel city’ of Jamshedpur. The events will be managed by the Delhi based Tiger Sports Marketing.
Amby Valley the leading patrons of Indian Sport, have acquired the umbrella sponsorship rights to the Indian PGA Golf Tour for a period of three years. The Amby Valley PGAI Tour commenced with the Southern Swing comprising three events in Chennai and one in Bangalore in September. Thereafter the Tour proceeded to the North, where two events were staged one each at Gurgaon and Noida.
The four-event Eastern swing, offers a staggering Rs 45 lakhs in prize money taking the current value of the Tour to 1.05 crores in what will be ten completed events. The swing commences with the Rs 15 lakh Tata Open to be played at the Beldhi & Golmuri Golf Courses from 15th to 19th November. The next stop is scheduled to be the Digboi Club Golf Links situated amidst lush tea estates and thick natural forest. The Rs 10-lakh Servo Masters, will be played on this picturesque golf course from 23rd to 27th November. Patna appears on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour calendar after a two-year gap.
The Rs 10 lakh Patna Open is scheduled to be played at the Patna Golf Course from 1st to 5th December, after which the Tour moves on to its first international leg. The Surya Nepal Masters will be played at the divinely exotic Gokarna Forest Golf Resort, in Gokarna, Nepal from 8th to 12th December. The tenth leg of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour offering Rs 10 lakhs (INR) as prize purse will be the closing event of year 2004.
“It gives us great pleasure to announce the Eastern Swing of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour,” said Col. S K Sinha, General Manager, Golf Operations, Amby Valley. “Amby Valley, Sahara Lake City recognizes the potential of golf and its escalating popularity as the fastest growing sport in this part of the world. The Amby Valley Golf Academy has come up with world class, state-of-the-art teaching facilities like swing analysis, laser club fitting, the explnar & bio-mechanics among others. We at Amby Valley will do our utmost to keep this progress graph pointed upwards,” he added, stating that Golf lovers in Eastern India would be treated to some world-class golfing action in the coming months.
“The Eastern Leg of the Amby Valley PGAI Tour promises to be extremely exciting,” said Brandon de Souza, Managing Director, Tiger Sports Marketing. “The initial events on the Tour have witnessed several record breaking achievements and this trend promises to continue these four weeks. While Vijay Singh recently became the first ever golfer to cross the $10 million earnings mark in a single season on the US PGA Tour, Ashok Kumar will be looking forward to setting a similar record on the Amby Valley PGAI Tour,” he added.
While the rivalry between Ashok Kumar and Shiv Kapur will occupy center stage, the presence of Mukesh and Vijay not to mention names like Gaurav Ghei, Uttam Mundy and Digvijay Singh will add the perfect sting to the challenge. Overall, there is some exciting and competitive golf to be witnessed, something the people of the East would be well advised not to miss.
