Golf lovers in the North-East had a treat with back to back PGA circuit events in Shillong and Digboi.

North East News Agency

Golf lovers in the North-East had a treat with two back to back events. This year the North-Eastern region got a new event in the form of the first Airtel Shillong Open. Then the PGA (Professional Golf Association) circuit moved to Digboi for the Indian Oil Xtra Premium Masters Golf Meet — which is the flagship tournament of the region.

Shillong had hosted the Meghalaya Open thrice earlier but the prize money of Rs. 10 lakh for the PGA event made it the first serious professional event to be held in Meghalaya. Beginning as a nine hole course for British officers in 1898, the Shillong greens were known to be among the best natural golf courses in Asia until human encroachment and poor maintenance led to its decadence. The return to prominence began when Assam Rifles decided to help the Shillong Golf Club, the NEC and the Meghalaya Tourism department to nurse the green back to health. Now the makeover is complete and the picture perfect course simply looks beautiful. The Assam Rifles DG Bhopinder Singh opined that hosting a leg of the Indian PGA tour would lead to even better things for the Shillong Golf Club.

Delhi’s Javier Virk stole the show winning this PGA tournament. He emerged victorious beating Chandigarh’s Ranjit Singh with a birdie on the first play off hole. Commandant P. S. Rathore emerged victorious in the amateur category with a four total of 24 over 304.Digboi boasts of the only 18-hole pro course in Assam and the game has a huge following in the area. A little known fact is that the region around Digboi has as many as 20 golf courses sustained and encouraged by tea and oil industries. The region has had a long relationship with the game of golf with the initial club culture graduating in to serious competition over the years.

The main tournament in Digboi saw 92 professionals and three amateurs drawn from all over the country and even a few from abroad, competing for a purse of Rs. 10 lakh. Mukesh Kumar, number one on the current professional golf merit list, came here not only as the defending champion but also with a huge reputation. He had already won the Digboi Masters thrice in 2001, 2002 and 2004. He participated in this tournament directly coming from Vietnam where he finished 12th in the Vietnam Masters. But his dominance of the Digboi Masters was halted this time as he was thoroughly outplayed by Chandigarh’s Harinder Gupta who played consistently well to be crowned the champion. Mukesh had to settle for second spot but he continues to lead the Amby Valley PGA Tour order of merit for the season.

With the two events of the Amby Valley PGA tour taking place in this region, golf in the North-East is sure to get a shot in the arm.

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