Hyderabad, Aug 31 (IANS): The Hyderabad Golf Association (HGA) and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) -- the official sanctioning body of professional golf in India -- on Tuesday announced the Golconda Masters Telangana Open 2021, which will be held at the Hyderabad Golf Club (HGC) from September 2-5 and will carry a prize purse of Rs 40 lakh. The Pro-Am event will be held on September 1.
The tournament, which will witness participation of 129 golfers (123 professionals and six amateurs), will see top Indian professionals in the fray including Olympian and defending champion Udayan Mane (2018 & 2020 winner), PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar, Rashid Khan, Khalin Joshi, Viraj Madappa and Aman Raj as well as other leading players such as former champions S Chikkarangappa (2019 winner) and Harendra Gupta (2015 winner), to name a few.
The foreign challenge will be led by the Bangladeshi duo of Md Zamal Hossain Mollah and Badal Hossain.
The local challenge will be led by Hyderabad-based players including professionals such as Haider Hussain, Mohd Azhar, Venkkat Gautham, Rupinder Singh Gill and Sanjay Kumar Singh as well as amateurs such as Hardik S Chawda, Tarun Ajay, Rahul Ajay, Tej Gangavarapu, Sankeerth Nidadavolu and Milind Soni.
Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, said, "We're excited about resuming the 2020-21 TATA Steel PGTI season with the Golconda Masters Telangana Open 2021 Presented by Vooty & Haldi. As we get the tour back on track after a five-month gap forced by the pandemic, we are extremely thankful to Hyderabad Golf Association, Vooty Golf County, Haldi Golf County, Telangana Tourism, Incredible India, Skoda and Apollo Hospitals, for their kind cooperation and support towards our cause.
"The Golconda Masters Telangana Open has emerged as one of the most prestigious tournaments on the PGTI over the last seven years and we're confident the event will continue to be a catalyst in helping grow the popularity of the sport in Telangana and will boost golf tourism in the state," said Mundy.