The hunt for the Standard Chartered Corporate Golf Tiger is finally over. After over 500 corporate czars had taken part in this multi-city twin-stage tournament which began about two months ago, twelve elite finalists from four zones fought it out for the coveted title. At the end of the 18-hole final battle, Amit Luthra stood tall, literally. The 6-feet four inch tall golfer, who had done India proud in 1982 with a team gold medal at the Asian Games, walked away with another laurel and now he can be proud of being India’s best Corporate Golfer.Amit played a good round of two-over 74, and I am sure he must not have liked the score as he is a fighter at heart. Every time he plays, he tries to shoot under-par, though his handicap shows two. Considering the challenging Greg Norman designed Jaypee Greens, shooting an even par round is not an easy job.Other contestants included Soumya Dutta, Tarun Mehrotra (all Delhi), Dr. Hassan Iqbal, Anup Singh, Gaurav Ghosh (all Kolkata), Sumit Rathore, Nooraine Fazal, David D’souza (all Bangalore) and Amit Nigam, Dhananjay Date and defending champion Akshay Keelachand (all Mumbai). With the course playing tough, even pars were difficult to come by. Dr. Iqbal Hassan, a winner from Kolkata, locked horns with Amit and finished a close second. Iqbal, who is a practicing doctor, missed out by two shots. Established as a yearly feature, this tournament aims to make corporate golfers feel that they can test their competitive instincts and be recognised in an event at par with professional golf tournament. Gone are the days when the equipment was hard to come by. It has become so easy these days as our runner-up Iqbal must have realised. He gets a brand new Taylormade golf set for finishing second. The winner Amit does not need any golfing lessons but I am sure he will be happy to make the trip to the David Leadbetter Academy in Sentosa Golf Club in Singapore, his prize for making that brilliant effort. -Brandon de Souza
