The seventh edition of Golconda Masters Telangana Open golf championship, organised by Hyderabad Golf Association and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), will be held on the picturesque Golconda golf course here from September 2 to 5, according to Mr. Sampath Chari, tournament director.
Mr. Chari informed media on Tuesday that the event, sponsored by Vooty Golf County and Haldi Golf County in partnership with Telangana Tourism, would be witnessing 129 golfers including six amateurs.
“The course is in excellent shape offering differing kinds of challenges to the golfers with the ball not running much,” he said.
“The fact that the golfers can collect world ranking points from this meet itself should be a huge motivation,” Mr. Chari, who has officiated in more than 800 tournaments, said.
Defending champion Udayan Mane, fresh from his recent Tokyo Olympics experience, would be one of the strongest contenders along with PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa and Aman Raj.
Former champions
The field also includes former champions Harendra Gupta and Chikkarangappa besides the Bangladesh duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain.
The local challenge will comprise Haider Hussain, Mohd Azhar, Venkkat Gautham, Rupinder Singh Gill and Sanjay Kumar Singh. For his part, Udayan Mana said he couldn’t have asked for a better course and better setting to start the season which also includes about 10 premier events in the next three months.
Kochhar rated the course as one of the top three in the country and that it was great to see so many kids playing the sport on the greens here.
Mr. C. Dayakar Reddy, president of HGA, Mr. K.S. Sreenivasa Raju, IAS, Secretary to State Government, Youth Advancement, Tourism and Culture, also spoke.
