Udayan Mane And Team Clinch ONGC Masters 2017 Pro-Am

Udayan Mane led his team to victory in a gala Pro-Am which brought down the curtains on the ONGC Masters 2017 at the Noida Golf Course on Sunday. The Pro-Am was played in the Scramble (Best Ball) format.

Mane and his team comprising Nalini Sharma, Simarjit Singh and Amar Singh tallied 55.3 points to win the pro-am, while Sri Lankan professional Mithun Perera and his team comprising Inderjit Singh, Brig. I J Singh and Amit Misra bagged the first runners-up trophy with a score of 55.7.

Amardip Sinh Malik, the winner of the main event, helped his team finish second runners-up with a score of 55.8.

Apart from the main prizes, there were other exciting contests to keep everyone enthused.  K P Singh placed his ball 7 feet from the pin to clinch the ‘Closest to the pin’ prize on hole no. 3, while Sanjeev Tokhi landed his shot 17 feet from the pin to win the ‘Closest to the pin’ on hole no. 16

Rajeev Raghuvanshi landed his drive one foot from the centre of the fairway to clinch the ‘Straightest drive’ on hole no. 1.

The Pro-Am witnessed more than 100 participants including Dr AK Balyan, CEO, OIL & Natural Gas, Reliance ADAG; Manoj Barthwal, GM(HR) – Head Coordination, ONGC; KK Sharma, Director General, Border Security Force; Nalini Sharma, Chairperson, Tournament Committee, Noida Golf Course among other dignitaries.

Manoj Barthwal teamed up with Sri Lanka pro N Thangaraja, Dr AK Balyan and BS Pradhan."Pro-am offers an ideal platform for an informal and relaxed interaction between the participants from different walks of life and leading professional golfers. The whole affair is made more enjoyable with interesting playing formats, and on course skills competition testing the amateur golfers to the hilt," said Barthwal.

ONGC (Maharatna PSU), is not only powering the nation but also powering golf in India. “We are extremely honoured to have partnered with PGTI for this event. ONGC has supported Jeev Milka Singh,

Amandeep Johl, Shiv Kapoor, Harinder Gupta, Vikrant Chopra, Abhinav Lohan, Vikram Rana among other sportsmen including the current India cricket team captain Virat Kohli,” said Barthwal, who is pragmatic when it comes to playing golf.

“My philosophy on the course is to have a great time. My short game is good but I need to improve my driving and iron play.”

Dr AK Balyan, CEO, OIL & Gas, Reliance ADAG, lauded the efforts of ONGC and PGTI: “I’m really delighted to see ONGC returning as sponsor of PGTI event. ONGC has always supported golf at all levels. This particular tournament was very well organized and I had the opportunity to meet old colleagues at the Pro-Am.”

KK Sharma, Director General, BSF was also full praise for the tournament: "I always look forward to playing Pro-Ams and as usual it was a great, fun-filled event with lots of on-course prizes. It was a treat to play with Shamin Khan who passed on some valuable tips.”

JS Waraich, DGM (CC) – Head Sports, ONGC, said, "Petroleum sector has done its bit in promoting sports through Petroleum Sports Promotion Board (PSPB) and ONGC has taken the lead among all OIL PSUs. With 34 Arjuna Awardees, ONGC can lay claim to having the country's leading lights in various sports, including golf under its auspices.”

“Our objective is to promote the game at the grass-root level by taking in young sportsmen and providing them with best training facilities and International exposure so that they bring laurels to our nation in International and National level meets,” signed off Waraich.

Words - Tilak Malaviya