Ahmedabad (Gujarat)[India], August 4 : Coal India Limited and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI), the official sanctioning body of men's professional golf in India, will be jointly staging the inaugural Coal India Open from August 5 to August 8 at the Kensville Golf and Country Club in Ahmedabad.
The tournament offers a total prize purse of Rs 1 crore. The main event was preceded by the Pro-Am event on August 3.
Coal India Limited, the world's largest coal producer and one of India's leading public sector enterprises, comes on board as an Event Title Sponsor on the PGTI for the first time. The event will have a field of 126 players, including 123 professionals and three amateurs.
The impressive field at the tournament will feature leading Indian professional,s including Yuvraj Sandhu, Om Prakash Chouhan, Manu Gandas and Udayan Mane, to name a few. The leading foreign professionals in the field are Sri Lankans N Thangaraja and K Prabagaran, Bangladeshis Jamal Hossain and Badal Hossain, Nepal's Sukra Bahadur Rai and Subash Tamang, Italian Federico Zucchetti, American Koichiro Sato and Ugandan Joshua Seale, to name a few.
In a press release, PM Prasad, Chairman - cum - Managing Director, Coal India Limited, said, "We at Coal India Limited are excited to partner with the PGTI in staging the inaugural Coal India Open. This partnership is testament to our commitment to the growth of golf in India and also provides a platform to promote our core values of excellence, integrity and community engagement. We look forward to working with the PGTI in creating a successful and memorable event."
Amandeep Johl, CEO, PGTI, said, "We are delighted to welcome Coal India Limited as the title sponsor for the Coal India Open, the tournament that flags off the transformative second half of the season at the magnificent Kensville Golf and Country Club in Ahmedabad."
This partnership significantly strengthens PGTI's mission of providing maximum playing opportunities for Indian professionals. Coal India's commitment enables us to elevate the tournament's scale and quality and reinforces the confidence that India's leading institutions place in our vision for the sport."
On Sunday, the Pro-Am event was won by the team led by professional Shankar Das. Shankar's team included amateurs Yohann Doongaji, Anish Patel and Chirag Thakkar.