Visakhapatnam: The Professional Golf Tour of India
(PGTI), the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India,
along with East Point Golf Club, Visakhapatnam, today launched a new
event, the Vizag Open, which will be held at the picturesque East
Point Golf Club (EPGC) from September 20 – 23, 2023. The total prize
purse for the event is INR 1 crore.
The TATA Steel PGTI explores new territory with the inaugural Vizag
Open as the tour makes its debut in the state of Andhra Pradesh and at
the esteemed East Point Golf Club. The tournament is supported by Host
Venue East Point Golf Club, Powered By Partners VPR Builders and Devi
Seafoods, Associate Partners Steel City Securities Limited, SRK Infra,
Nekkanti, Vishwa Samudra, Ultra Dimensions Group, Laurus Labs, GMM
Pfaudler, Soma Developers as well as Hospitality Partner Novotel Varun
Beach, Visakhapatnam.
The leading Indian professionals participating in the event include
Olympian Udayan Mane, PGTI Order of Merit leader Om Prakash Chouhan,
Aman Raj, Sunhit Bishnoi and Harshjeet Singh Sethie, to name a few.
The foreign participants at the event are Sri Lankans N Thangaraja and
Mithun Perera, Bangladeshis Badal Hossain and Md Akbar Hossain,
Nepal’s Sukra Bahadur Rai, Andorra’s Kevin Esteve Rigaill and Canada’s
Sukhraj Singh Gill.
The local challenge will be led by professionals S Muthu and Rahman
Mehboob Shorif and amateurs Bharat Kollapudi, Kanugula Sreenivas and S
Nischinth Arya Reddy.
Mr. M S N Raju, Honorary Secretary, East Point Golf Club, said, “This
is the first time that a PGTI tournament is taking place at EPGC. We
assure the organisers and players that they will have a great
experience playing at our naturally picturesque and challenging
course. Visakhapatnam is known for good hospitality, so every guest
will take back great memories. There is a thriving golfing culture at
EPGC and there is great camaraderie between our members, both
civilians and defence personnel. The staging of the Vizag Open will
certainly put EPGC on the world golfing map and at the same time
promote the tourism potential, hospitality and branding of
Visakhapatnam. We are confident that all the professionals will
cherish their memories of playing at EPGC and look forward to coming
back here every year.
“The top-class facilities offered by EPGC including the golf course,
driving range, consultant-driven junior program with good coaches and
a fitness trainer, provides a great atmosphere for juniors and members
to learn golf. We are confident that EPGC will produce several
national-level players in the near future.”
Mr. Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, “With the launch of the
inaugural Vizag Open, the PGTI makes its debut in a new city and venue
thus further expanding its presence across the country. This is in
line with PGTI’s long-term objective of taking Indian professional
golf to different parts of the country to grow the sport further. We
thank East Point Golf Club and all our event partners for supporting
our efforts in staging this event. An exciting week of golf lies in
prospect as the professionals get their first look of the outstanding
East Point Golf Club.”
The East Point Golf Club established in 1884, transformed as a
championship course in February 2021 and received the Best Renovated
Golf Course Award at the GIA Summit 2022 in New Delhi. The 6871 yards
long Par-72 EPGC is surrounded by lush green mountains, reservoirs,
palm trees, water bodies, plantations and fountains and is home to
very well-maintained fairways, greens, tee boxes and capillary
bunkers. EPGC conducts many club-level, inter-club and IGU tournaments
throughout the year.
-PGTI
