Thrilling Finale To A Marquee Event

*This is a sponsored feature by PGTI.

The 450 yard Par 5 on the 18th hole was the setting for the finale of the keenly contested, ₹1 crore Crompton Greaves Open, being held at the Bombay Presidency Golf Club. 25 year-old Sanjeev Kumar from Lucknow was the leader by one shot entering the final hole and after a par putt, held the advantage leaving it all up to the chasing pack. 31 year-old M Dharma from Bengaluru has been one of the most consistent golfers on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) over the past few years, but had not won a title since 2013. A double bogey on the 14th hole had appeared to end his hopes here as well. As he trailed Kumar by two shots entering the 18th, he was left with all to do. However a brilliant second shot gave him a great putting opportunity to secure an eagle and level things. He duly converted and out of nowhere, the tournament was now going to be decided by a playoff between Kumar and Dharma.

After both golfers matched each other on the first playoff hole, on the second it was the more inexperienced Kumar who cracked first. Dharma who had waited long for this moment, finally managed to end his four-year drought for a title on the PGTI and collect a winner’s cheque of ₹15 lakhs. It was agony though for Kumar, who has not won on the PGTI since turning pro in 2011. While this was his fourth top five finish of 2017, it was his most lucrative as he pocketed the runners-up cheque of ₹10 Lakhs.

Dharma has had a few near misses over the past few years, even at the last PGTI event held at Digboi, he was the joint leader at the end of the third day before suffering a final day collapse. He had also suffered the heartbreak of coming second on a few occasions, including one at this tournament in 2015 where he lost in a playoff to Ashok Kumar.

While failing to cross the finishing line at the top can take a lot out of you, Dharma admits that these are things one has to accept in the sport , “If you have too much frustration, then you can’t play golf, you have to remain patient. The PGTI is very competitive, look at the kind of scores being put up. There are times when winning a title on the PGTI can be even harder than on the Asian Tour,” says Dharma.

The Bombay Presidency Golf Club (BPGC) established in 1927 is located in the Mumbai neighbourhood of Chembur. In a city notorious for its lack of space and where real estate prices have gone through the roof, BPGC stands out almost like an oasis in India’s commercial capital. While you enter the club from a busy main road, the feel of cars and buses zipping by changes as soon as you go past the gate of the club. There is a pro shop selling golf equipment and one can find a swimming pool near the dining area. In fact, so green is the golf course that for a moment you would be taken aback that this is the city of Mumbai that one is standing in.

Ashish Chemburkar, the captain of BPGC, is aware of the challenges while at the same time fortunate that Mumbai has something like this in its midst, “Despite the city being so cramped and with real estate prices being as high as they are, we have a boutique kind of course here. Peter Thomson the designer of the course has done a miracle in 85 acres of land, to make a course which is competitive. We have six par threes, which even professionals find difficult, plus it’s a narrowly laid course which makes it challenging.”

Uttam Singh Mundy, the CEO of the PGTI and a former golfer himself, believes that the BPGC is one of the best courses to play on. “Everyone looks forward to the CG Open to play at the BPGC, because this is a very challenging golf course and after upgradation the greens are fantastic, the fairways are in great shape and thus the players really enjoy playing on this course,” says Mundy.

Crompton Greaves have been one of the leading supporters of golf in India and the 2017 tournament was the 10th edition of the CG Open in Mumbai, the city in which the company is based. One of the reasons the company got involved in golf was because of the game becoming more and more democratic, with people from humble backgrounds coming through, it is what encouraged them to get involved with the sport.

Though the CG Open has largely been an end of the year event with a lot at stake for the Order of Merit race, it has been far from a one-sided competition, with the 10 editions throwing up seven different winners, Dharma being the latest. “We are trying to expand the game and we are trying to get newer and newer players coming in. We continue this because of our commitment, we continue this because it has now become a marquee event. Our biggest excitement is because of the newer players who have been coming in,” says Sanjay Singh, Executive Vice-President (HR) of Crompton Greaves Power and Industrial Solutions Limited.

The main focus at the CG Open like it will be in all the remaining tournaments this year, revolved around the competition for coming out on top in the Order of Merit standings, a race which is going down to the wire between Shamim Khan and Udayan Mane. While both Khan and Mane played well at the tournament finishing joint third and sixth respectively, there were some quality performances by youngsters, including those who only recently turned professional.

One of those youngsters was 20 year-old Viraj Madappa who recorded an excellent third place finish at the CG Open, just one shot behind the leaders Sanjeev Kumar and M Dharma. This was his fourth time in the top five, in the 11 events he has participated in this year, no doubt a top achievement for the youngster.

After a good amateur career, this was Madappa’s first year on the professional circuit. When you move to the more difficult professional circuit taking on much more experienced golfers, the pressure can be intimidating, but it seems Madappa has handled it fairly well. “Growing up I looked up to many of the golfers playing on the tour currently. All the jitters went after the first tournament when I found my place here. I feel like I belong here, I can be as good as everyone else here,” says Madappa.

A game like golf merits the kind of thrilling finale such as the one seen in Mumbai last week, and one hopes that it will be much the same in the remaining two tournaments coming up this year.