Pune: The cream on India’s amateur talent will be on display when the prestigious Tata Steel Western India Open Golf Championship tees off at the Pune Club Golf Course here from Tuesday. This is the third leg of the Tata Steel IGU Amateur Tour 2013 season. As many as 93 players will battle it out for honours in the event to be played over four days of strokeplay.


Leading the competition front is the youth brigade of Karan Taunk who is currently ranked No.1, Udayan Mane (No.2), Trishul Chinappa (No.4), Sayed Saqib Ahmed (No.5), Samarth Dwivedi (No.7) and Viraj Madappa (No.8) and experienced players like Simarjeet Singh (No.3), Manav Das (No.6), Gagan Verma (No.9) and Vikram Rana (No.10), thus marking an full attendance of the top-10 on the Order of Merit.


Sayed Saqib Ahmed won the inaugural event of the season – the Haryana Amateur Open at Golden Greens Golf Club while young Piyush Sangwan who is still in the junior category had won the Northern India Open at the Classic Golf Resort. The field also includes Peter Cherian, a talented young lad from Thailand who got through to the main round after playing the qualifiers.


Tata Steel who have taken on the mantle of the title sponsors have truly added steel in the growth and development program for the sport of golf. “We are happy to play host to the prestigious event a part of a very successful season of the Tata Steel Amateur Tour,” said Farzan Heerjee, Head Corporate Relations, Tata Steel. “We are pleased that our efforts have resulted in producing and nurturing some exceptional talent and we hope to further grow the Tour in the coming seasons,” added Farzan.


The par-71 Pune Club Golf Course boasts of some of quickest greens in the country and is primed to host the national event. The tree-lined fairways and thick rough call for accuracy. The strategically placed water bodies and bunkers are sure to test the skills of the players.