Indian golf has got another fresh lease of life with SAIL bringing together the best talent of Asia and India by launching the inaugural SAIL Open Golf Championship 2008 starting from February, 20 at Jaypee Greens in Noida.
The 400,000-dollar prize money tournament will come into effect after the sanction provided by the Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI). The four-day tournament will tee-off on February 20 and will conclude on 23rd.
The tournament is arriving at the right time as all the golfing fraternity's focus will be on India as India is hosting a series of international events in the same month like the Emaar Indian Masters and the Johnnie Walker Classic.
"Indian golf has finally come of age. The prize money in Indian golf, as also Asian golf, is now commensurate with the quality that we have,” said Ajai Gupta, Tour Commissioner of PGTI,
“I am sure the emergence of the SAIL Open Golf Championship as a new event on Indian soil and on the Asian Tour will further enhance India's contribution to the promotion of the sport in the continent," Gupta added.
A Pro-Am event that will be held on Sunday the 24th of February, where leaders of Indian industry and the government will play alongside the top professionals and get valuable tips from them to help them improve their weekend golf.
India's like Jeev Milkha Singh, who recently invited to play at the 2008 Masters at Augusta National will be the star attraction of the event. Among others in the fray who confirmed their participation include Jyoti Randhawa, Arjun Atwal and Gaurav Ghei.
Besides a host of top stars from India, there will be stars from Asia such as Thai stars Thaworn Wiratchant and Prayaad Marksaeng, China's Liang Wen Chong and Singapore's Mardan Mamat.
"As one of the first world-class designer courses in North India, Jaypee Greens has a special place in Indian golf. We are proud to host the top stars of Asia and India and we hope the event will help our existing stars and upcoming talent to compete with the best in the continent," said Rita Dixit, Executive President, Jaypee Greens.
"After playing cricket for a better part of my life, now I am involved with golf, too. I feel this is one more sport where Indians are capable of achieving world-class standards,” said cricket legend turned golfer Kapil Dev
“Our boys are already playing in the biggest events and it is only a matter of time before they bring more trophies," Kapil added.
The SAIL Open will also enhance the number of Asian Tour tournaments in India to four this season, placing it second behind China that presently has five tournaments on the 2008 Asian Tour schedule.
ADPROS and Fast Forward India will be promoting the event while World Sport Group (WSG) is going to manage it and with an industry leader like SAIL supporting this mega event, it is expected that the sport of golf will attain greater heights in the country.
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