New Delhi: Thomas Cook (India) Limited [TCIL] along with Professional lady golfer Smriti Mehra, Pro Ali Sher and Pro Rashid Khan, launched the 3rd edition of the Thomas Cook Indian Golf League today. The success of the first two editions of this unique initiative promoted by Digraj Golf and supported by Thomas Cook (India) Limited has led to an increase in the number of tournaments and host cities. In addition to NCR and Mumbai, the 3rd season will witness tournaments in Bangalore, Chandigarh and Srinagar.
The 3rd edition of the Thomas Cook Indian Golf League has been scheduled for duration of 16 weeks and will contain 20 tournaments played in five cities all across India. In this unique series of events, everyone gets a chance to compete and top five players from each tournament qualify for the Grand finale in New Delhi.
The serious golfers are scored in the Gross stableford format while the regular golfers are scored in the Nett stableford format and play off 75% of their original handicaps. As a special initiative for ladies, the best lady golfer each day will be determined on the same basis. New golfers, who do not have a handicap, are offered an incentive via a handicap system called the “Double Peoria”, which gives them a handicap for that day based on a certain formula. In this manner, the combination of unique scoring welcomes participation across varied level of skills on to a single platform.
The first two editions of the league drew a tremendous response with participation from over 20 cities. The “Open field” also saw some good competition and low scoring. There are attractive skills prizes also to be won each day. And like the previous editions, at the Grand Finale exclusive luxury holidays will be presented as prizes, courtesy “Indulgence” Thomas Cook (India) Ltd’s luxury brand.
Participation in the league is through a combination of invitations and “pay and play”. While some players will get invited by the supporting sponsors to play, the main participation in the league will come from players who will “pay and play” a nominal amount of approx Rs. 1500. This amount covers the green fee, caddy fee, gifts and basic refreshments.
“It’s my belief that the Thomas Cook Indian Golf League would continue to promote the sport and showcase new talent. It will also function as a catalyst for developing domestic golf tourism through the opportunity being created for everyone to play on beautiful Indian courses.” added Digraj Singh, CEO, Digraj Golf.
With the addition of Noida Golf Course, the existing base of partner clubs in NCR has gone up and comprises of Golden Greens Golf and Country Club, Jaypee Greens Golf Resort, Classic Golf Resort and Tarudhan Valley. The players will thus have an opportunity to play at five different yet beautiful courses in the NCR region. The league will also foray into the other cities and the courses are being tied up.
The support of the various sponsors has made the competitive platform possible. Titleist, Oakley and British Airways provide product support as prizes while Zee Business is the Business Television partner and 4Moles.com is the official online media partner.
Simi Mehra, India’s top lady golfer lauded the efforts to promote golf. “This could have a domino effect and create more awareness and playing opportunities for golf.” She was especially delighted with the efforts to promote juniors and talented players from underprivileged backgrounds as it would help them evolve into better players.”
