Asiad golfers for Western India

January 12: The cream of Indian amateur golfers will be seen in action at the Western India Amateur Golf Tournament, sponsored by Classic...

January 12: The cream of Indian amateur golfers will be seen in action at the Western India Amateur Golf Tournament, sponsored by Classic Stripes, which gets under-way at the par-70 Bombay Presidency Golf Club here on Thurday.

Three of the four-member Indian team which participated at the Bangkok Asian Games, namely National Amateur champion Harmeet Kahlon of Chandigarh, Amit Luthra (Pune) and Digvijay Singh. Amit Dubey, who was also a part of the Asiad squad but turned professional recently, will not be playing.

The 72-hole strokeplay competition, which has a strong field of 80, is a categorised event of the Indian Golf Union for amateurs with a handicap of 12 and below.

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International Amish Jaitha of Poona Golf Club who figured in India’s triumphant team in the recent SAARC championships in Bangalore will also be one of the strong contenders here to defending champion Jaideep Patwardhan (PCGC).

Among those to tee-off on Thursday are Delhi’s Sandeep Syal, winner at the just concluded junior tourneyhere and defending champion Jaideep Patwardhan of Poona Golf Club.

Kahlon, who lost out to a medal at Bangkok after some superlative performances on the first two days, will go all out to make amends here. “It was pretty tough on the last two days there (Bangkok),” said Kahlon after a practice round today. “It was really dissappointing,” he added. The Chandigarh golfer who wanted to win the Asiad gold before turning pro, said that he has kept his options open. “I guess things will be settled after a couple of months.”

The performance of local favourite Amit Nigam, who topped the amateur event at the Mahindra Invitational and BPGC Open, last month will also be watched with interest.

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The 6,189-yard course appears in good shape despite the strain of a hectic season. The greens, considered among the fast ones in the country though have been slowed down a bit for the event.