Elite line-up for Trust Golf mixed events
Reigning Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Joohyung Kim from Korea and current number one Sihwan Kim from the United States and past Merit list winners from the Ladies European Tour (LET) South African Lee-Anne Pace and Becky Brewerton from Wales are just some of the leading players who will make up the elite field for next week’s Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup.
The ground-breaking tournament – which marks the first time the two Tours have jointly sanctioned an event – will take place on the Waterside Course at Siam Country Club from April 7-10 and will be followed the week after by the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge, at the same venue.
Both events will feature 60 Asian Tour players and 60 LET players, along with 24 sponsor invitations, playing for the same prize fund and trophy. Each tournament will offer a prize fund of US$750,000, along with Official World Golf Ranking points, and they will count towards the Asian Tour Order of Merit and LET’s Race to the Costa del Sol.
Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong, winner of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard last week on the Asian Tour, will also compete along with many of his distinguished compatriots including Jazz Janewattananond, Phachara Khongwatmai, Sadom Kaewkanjana and Pavit Tangkamolprasert.
Lee-Anne Pace of Republic of South Africa (Photo by Pedro Salado/Quality Sport Images/Getty Images)
Australian Scott Hend, winner of 10 titles on the Asian Tour, and nine-time champion Gaganjeet Bhullar from India have also entered along with American John Catlin and Shiv Kapur from India, who have both won on four occasions.
Thailand’s golf phenom Ratchanon Chantananuwat, popularly known as “TK”, has also been invited to compete. The 15-year-old amateur star has not missed the cut in the six events he has played in since the Asian Tour restarted at the end of last year and finished third in The Singapore International.
There will be 14 LET winners and two Race to Costa del Sol champions in the field of 60 female competitors.
Pace and Brewerton will be joined by fellow Tour veterans Marianne Skarpnord of Norway, Lydia Hall of Wales, Kylie Henry from Scotland, Sweden’s Jenny Haglund and English pair Felicity Johnson and Florentyna Parker.
Sweden’s Johanna Gustavsson, ranked fourth on the current Race to Costa del after two top-10 finishes in her first three events of the season, including a tie for second in the Aramco Saudi Ladies International, will also compete as well as sixth ranked Kim Metraux of Switzerland, eighth ranked Nicole Garcia of South Africa and LET winners Alice Hewson and Maria Hernandez of Spain, who are tied for 10th respectively.
Rising star Maja Stark from Sweden, who started last year as an amateur but ended the year with three professional wins – two of which were on the LET – will be making her season debut in the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup. After turning professional last summer, the 23-year-old won on her home course to secure her maiden title on the LET Access Series and then won the Creekhouse Ladies Open and the Estrella Damm Ladies Open on the LET. The former PING Junior Solheim Cup player finished sixth on the 2021 Race to Costa del Sol Rankings despite having played in just six events as a member.
Other leading players in the field include Sanna Nuutinen of Finland, who finished fourth on Tour last year after nine top-10 finishes, former winner Diksha Dagar of India and two-time LET champion Meghan MacLaren from England, making her LET season debut.
The Trust Golf Asian Mixed Stableford Challenge will be held the following week, from April 13-16, and will feature a very similar line-up of players.
The Asian Development Tour (ADT), the Asian Tour’s feeder circuit, makes its long awaited and popular return this week, after a two-year break caused by the pandemic, at the inaugural Gurugram Challenge in India.
The US$75,000 ADT tournament tees off tomorrow at the Classic Golf & Country Club in Nuh, Haryana, close to the national capital New Delhi, and will be jointly sanctioned with the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI).
Prominent names participating include Asian Tour winners Rashid Khan and Khalin Joshi from India and Indonesian Rory Hie – who won the Classic Golf and Country Club International Championship on the Asian Tour at Classic Golf & Country Club in 2019.
Joshi also has good memories of playing at Classic Golf & Country Club as he won a PGTI event at the venue in 2016.
Khalin said: “It’s good to be back at Classic where I have won in the past. The course is in great condition with the fairways and greens being immaculate. There is no rough so putting would hold the key this week.
“After I won on the PGTI last October, I fell ill and missed an event. So, the swing has not felt the same since then and I’ve not been at the top of my game. But I’m feeling good heading into this week. I know it’s just about shooting one low score and the confidence will be back.”
NAKHON RACHASIMA-THAILAND – Pavit Tangkamolprasert of Thailand pictured on Sunday January 26, 2020, with the winner’s trophy during the final round of the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship at the Rancho Charnvee Resort & Country Club, Nakhon Rachasima, Thailand. The approximate USD$ 130.000 event is the 1st event on the 2020 Asian Development Tour. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Development Tour.
The last time an ADT event was played was the Boonchu Ruangkit Championship in January of 2020, when Thailand’s Pavit Tangkamolprasert triumphed.
“One of the Asian Tour’s greatest achievements over the past decade has been the successful implementation of the Asian Development Tour,” said Cho Minn Thant, Commissioner & CEO, Asian Tour.
“Launched in 2010, our incredibly popular secondary Tour has been a conveyor belt of stars of the future – such as current Asian Tour Order of Merit champion Korean Joohyung Kim and four-time Asian Tour winner John Catlin from the United States – and so I am truly delighted that the Asian Development Tour will restart this week after a two-year hiatus.
“The Gurugram Challenge, in collaboration with our friends at the Professional Golf Tour of India and the Classic Golf & Country Club, commences a season when we are expecting to stage 10-12 tournaments as we rebuild and look to get back to a full schedule next year.”
Uttam Singh Mundy, CEO, PGTI, added: “We are delighted to jointly sanction the inaugural Gurugram Challenge along with the Asian Development Tour. The tournament is yet another initiative to provide international exposure to Indian professionals. We thank the Classic Golf & Country Club for partnering with us in staging the event. We look forward to the event emerging as a regular feature on the PGTI schedule in the coming years.”
Classic Golf & Country Club is also a member of Asian Tour Destinations – an exclusive network of world-class golfing venues with direct ties to the Asian Tour.
Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong defeated Ajeetesh Sandhu from India on the first hole of a sudden-death play-off to claim The DGC Open presented by Mastercard today after a compelling finish to the inaugural event on the iconic Lodhi course at Delhi Golf Club (DGC).
Nitithorn made a brilliant birdie four on the par-five 18th to win his first event on the Asian Tour after Sandhu holed out for par – in what was the fourth event on the 2022 schedule.
The duo had finished tied for 72 holes on seven under after Nitithorn, the overnight leader by two from Sandhu, closed with a one-over-par 73 and Sandhu 71.
Thailand’s Settee Prakongvech ended one shot short of the play-off after returning 71 to finish outright third for his best Asian Tour result, while Gaganjeet Bhullar from India carded 72, to claim solo fourth, two strokes further back.
Nitithorn lived up to his nickname “Fever” by raising the temperature of his game on the famous 18th at DGC. Tied with playing-partner Sandhu on the last in normal time, he holed a 10 footer for birdie which forced his Indian opponent to make his four from five feet to send the tournament into overtime.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Nitithorn Thippong of Thailand celebrates on the 18th green during round four of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Sunday March 27, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
The 25-year-old Thai golfer then reached the green with two fine shots in the play-off leaving himself a 15-foot eagle putt while Sandhu found the putting surface in three having landed in trouble off the tee. After Sandhu missed his birdie attempt from 18 feet, Nitithorn triumphantly two putted to earn a cheque for US$90,000.
“I can’t describe my feeling right now. To win on the Asian Tour I have been waiting for this for a long time,” said Nitithorn, a professional since 2015 whose biggest win to date had been the 2018 PGM Penang Championship on the Asian Development Tour in 2018.
“I cannot describe my feelings, it is incredible, it’s amazing. I didn’t putt so good today. I just tried to hit it on the green and make the putts, but I couldn’t make them.
“On the 14th, where I made bogey, I was so nervous there, but I did not lose my mind. I just focused on everything that I can, and just play. In the play off I wasn’t as nervous as in normal time. I felt more free and so comfortable.”
The tournament developed into a classic two-horse race with Nitithorn appearing to be on course for victory after staying two ahead after nine before he made bogey on 10, 14 and 16.
Birdies on 13 and 14 meant Sandhu was two ahead with two to go but to the shock of the strong local support the Indian golfer pushed his tee shot right on the par-three 17th, lost his ball, and ended up making a double bogey while Nitithorn made par to draw level and set up the dramatic finish on 18.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Ajeetesh Sandhu of India pictured during round four of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Sunday March 27, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Said Sandhu: “It was a good week. Looking back, I’ll definitely take a lot from it. It was disappointing how it finished but that’s golf. You always have to keep coming back from disasters. No regrets because while competing you’re always trying your best.
“In hindsight, I would say on the 17th I tried to hit a shot which was not a high percentage one. I tried to move it with the wind to go into the flag but just didn’t make a good swing.”
Justin Quiban from the Philippines produced his joint best finish on the Asian Tour when he was fifth on three under after shooting a 70.
India’s Shiv Kapur, a four-time winner on the Asian Tour, carded a 68 and was in a group of players who finished a stroke further back in joint sixth.
The next event on the Asian Tour is the Trust Golf Asian Mixed Cup at Siam Country Club in Thailand from April 7-10.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Settee Prakongvech of Thailand pictured during round four of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Sunday March 27, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong returned a two-under-par 70 to take a two-shot lead after the third round of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard today, moving into unchartered territory holding the lead in an Asian Tour event for the first time in his fledgling career.
The 25 year old, three behind overnight leader Veer Ahlawat from India at the start of the day, carded four birdies and two bogeys at Delhi Golf Club, and leads on eight under.
India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu is in second place after shooting 73, while Thailand’s Settee Prakongvech carded 70 and is a stroke further back – in the fourth event of the season on the Asian Tour.
India’s Gaganjeet Bhullar, a nine-time winner on the Asian Tour (which is the most by an Indian golfer), came in with a 73 and is four behind the leader in solo possession of fourth.
Ahlawat carded a disappointing 78 but is still only five off the lead.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Left to right – Ajeetesh Sandhu of India passes a tee to playing partner Veer Ahlawat of India pictured during round three of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Saturday March 26, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Last month Nitithorn finished tied fourth in the Royal’s Cup on home soil for his best finish on the Asian Tour and is now on the threshold of vastly improving upon that tomorrow.
“Today, I could 100% focus on my game and process so that’s why the result was really good,” said the Thai golfer, who turned professional in 2015 and claimed the PGM Penang Championship on the Asian Development Tour three years later.
“I just focus on my process, just play, and have fun. I didn’t hit many greens today, but I made a lot of great up and downs, I think I made almost all my up and downs.”
He also admitted to having a craving for Delhi Golf Club’s chocolate milkshakes and said he downed three cups before today’s round.
Sandhu, who has won once before on the Asian Tour at the Yeangder Tournament Players Championship in 2017, looked to be out of the running for much of day but made an eagle on the par-five 14th, where he hit a five iron to 15 feet, to rekindle his chances and also place him in the final pairing on Sunday.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Gaganjeet Bhullar of India pictured during round three of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Saturday March 26, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Said Sandhu: “A difficult day. The wind was off, the course was firm. It was a very good test out there today. Need to do some practice to get ready for tomorrow and hopefully it is a better day tomorrow.
“I hung in there today, didn’t really have my best day. Off the tee, with the irons, and with the putter, everything was kind of average. But I’m glad I’m still up there and I’ll have a shot to win tomorrow, so that means a lot.”
This is the inaugural The DGC Open presented by Mastercard, which offers a total purse of US$500,000, and is the first Asian Tour event to be played in India since the 2019 Panasonic Open India.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Settee Prakongvech of Thailand pictured during round three of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Saturday March 26, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
That some golf courses suit certain players better than others is no secret, and the iconic Lodhi Course at Delhi Golf Club – venue for this week’s The DGC Open presented by Mastercard – is well known for being the type of layout that fits some players like a glove and takes others out of the equation, writes Olle Nordberg, Contributing Editor, Asian Tour.
The tree and bush lined holes have always demanded precision off the tee, so it is not a course that has offered much advantage to the Asian Tour’s power players in the past.
The same applies now even after the course’s re-design by nine-time Major winner Gary Player from South Africa, which also saw significant changes to the structure of the green complexes.
Instead, it has been a course where a handful of players have had a lot of success during the last decade, collecting eight wins at the course whether the event has been the Hero Indian Open, Panasonic Open India, or SAIL-SBI Open.
Since the start of 2012 the Asian Tour has visited Delhi Golf Club no less than 13 times, and during this time no one has collected more wins than India’s number one player Anirban Lahiri.
The Indian ace triumphed on three occasions on the Lodhi course during these years – amazingly all victories coming in play-offs. He also had two tied-second place finishes, and in his eight starts at Delhi Golf Club during this time he only finished outside of the top-10 once.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – A peacock wanders around the 18th green during round one of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Thursday March 24, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Two-time Hero Indian Open champion S. S. P. Chawrasia collected one of those two trophies at Delhi Golf Club in 2016, beating Lahiri and Korea’s Jeunghun Wang by two strokes. The Indian also won the Panasonic Open India at the course in 2014, coming out victorious against Sri Lanka’s Mithun Perera in a playoff. He was also second and tied-second in the 2015 and 2013 Hero Indian Opens respectively.
In terms of consistency, the best performer at the famous venue has been Bangladesh’s leading player Siddikur Rahman.
Astonishingly, in his 11 events played at Delhi Golf Club since 2012 he has a finished in the top 10 91% of the time, and in the top five 73%. He won the Hero Indian Open in 2013 there when he overcame Lahiri by a single stroke.
Two-time Asian Tour winner Rashid Khan has also been a player to fear at this course, having won the 2014 SAIL-SBI Open in a playoff against Rahman. New Delhi native Khan also posted a second-place finish at the same event in 2013, having lost in a playoff against Lahiri, and was joint runner-up in the 2016 Panasonic Open India when Mukesh Kumar won by one stroke in the 54-hole shortened event.
Another player that should be mentioned in this context is India’s Shiv Kapur, the winner of the 2017 Panasonic Open India, when he beat no less than seven other players by three strokes at Delhi Golf Club, which is his home club, and where he grew up playing the game.
The four-time Asian Tour winner also had a couple more top-five finishes at the Lodhi course in 2013, when he finished fourth at the Panasonic Open India and the SAIL-SBI Open.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – The clubhouse DGC plaque at The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
Kapur should always be considered a dangerous player around his home track; he is due more success on a course that means so much to him although with a fine crop of young Indian players emerging there is a strong chance that one of those players will take a liking to the course like Lahiri, SSP, Rahman or Khan.
Australian Travis Smyth and Shankar Das from India carded fine five-under-par 67s to take the lead on day one of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard.
Thailand’s Nitithorn Thippong and Indian Veer Ahlawat carded 68s, while India’s Ajeetesh Sandhu and Karandeep Kochhar returned 69s, on the famous Lodhi course at Delhi Golf Club – which was recently re-designed by South African great Gary Player.
Smyth, looking for his first win on the Asian Tour, opted not to use his driver on the notoriously tight golf course and it paid dividends as he shot an eagle, four birdies and dropped just one shot.
“I’d like to know if this is actually the tightest golf course in the world because if there is a course out there tighter than this then I don’t want to play it,” said the 27-year-old Australian.
“My strength is my iron play so not having my driver out here, I am quite happy with that. All the par fours I am hitting between a five iron or two iron off the tee, leaving myself eight irons to wedges in.”
It’s the first time he has played at Delhi Golf Club and judging by his round today he has an instant attraction to it.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Shankar Das of India pictured during round one of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Thursday March 24, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
He said: “You have to hit it so straight off these tees and with the wind swirling the anxiety levels are up around Delhi. I took the driver out of my bag for the first time in my life. I didn’t bring it to the course, there might be one hole, where I could use it, on hole number three, but I thought I would just use three wood and take driver out, and have an extra club in the bag.”
Having teed off on 10 his round quickly got going when he eagled the par-five 14th.
“I hit two iron off the tee [on 14]. I had planned to play it as a three-shot hole, but the ball ran out much further, so I thought I had better go for the green and I hit one of the best high three irons of my life up onto the top shelf, about 15 feet and holed the putt,” added Smyth.
Veteran Das produced one of the best rounds of his 20-year career to share the limelight with Smyth.
He didn’t drop a shot on the front nine and went out in four under before making two birdies and a bogey on the homeward stretch.
“I have practiced a lot with my three-wood for DGC,” said Das.
“This is a very good course. Earlier there were flat greens, but now there are more high greens. Now not only do you have to hit the tee shot well, but you have to hit the second shot really well, then only you get a chance for a birdie. Overall, I feel I am getting my game back
India’s Shiv Kapur, a four-time champion on the Asian Tour and winner of the 2017 Panasonic Open India at Delhi Golf Club, carded a 71 and is tied ninth.
“I started off quite well, was quite happy with my round, was four under for the first 10 holes. Then I hit a bit of a speed bump on the back nine. I didn’t quite have my A game today. I made a couple of sloppy bogeys coming in and that made the difference between a good and an average round,” said Kapur, who is a member of the club.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Shiv Kapur of India pictured during round one of The DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Thursday March 24, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
“The course is in the best condition I’ve ever seen. Overall, the changes to the course have been good. Earlier on the par fives you hit a good tee shot and that was pretty much game over. Now you’ve got to hit good shots into the greens, or you have some pretty tricky up and downs. On a course like this lined with trees and bushes, there’s no margin for error. One loose shot here is two, three shots gone and the big numbers can really hurt you around here.”
Khalin Joshi and Viraj Madappa, two of India’s most promising golfers, will tee-off in The DGC Open presented by Mastercard tomorrow at the Delhi Golf Club (DGC) attempting to complete a unique double.
Joshi has the distinction of winning at the DGC the last time the Asian Tour staged an event there – at the Panasonic Open India, in October 2018.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Khalin Joshi of India warms up at the dfriving range ahead of the Pro-am event ahead of the DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday March 23, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
And Madappa triumphed almost exactly three years later at the famous venue at the TATA Steel PGTI MP Cup on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) – which was the first professional tournament played on the course following its much talked about and highly praised re-design by nine-time Major winner Gary Player from South Africa, who happens to be on site this week.
Madappa may have the upper hand as his win was much more recent, but it’s marginal as the player who finished second in that event, one shot behind, was none other than Mr Joshi.
“I have been playing here since my junior days and I love the course,” said Joshi.
“It is a great challenge and I have had some success and good moments, including the Asian Tour win. I had played so many times before it was re-done, and I always felt you needed to think and plan all the time.
“Now with shapes of the greens having been changed and a lot of run-off and collection areas, the challenge is stiffer. You can’t miss on the wrong side and if you do it is going to be tough. So, you think before each shot.”
On the new DGC course, Madappa said: “The DGC is a great course. From tee to greens it is the same, but a lot else has changed. The bunkers have been moved a little, the greens are re-shaped and there are some fantastic slopes and a lot of collection areas one should look out for. All in all, it is a great challenge. The renovation has been great. A very good job.”
Madappa’s first professional win came at the Take Solutions Masters in Bengaluru on the Asian Tour in 2018 and since then he has been making good progress, and he chose to use the long lay-off caused by the pandemic productively.
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Viral Madappa of India pictured during a Pro-am event ahead of the DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday March 23, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
“That was something out of our control,” said the 24 year old.
“I used the time in the first wave to think and work on my game. Then when we got no events on the Asian Tour, it did get frustrating, but I hung in and put more work in.
“I have now been a pro for five years. So, it is more frustrating when you know where you are, and you also know how good you could be or where you could be. That’s the gap I want to bridge.”
Could this be the week when he takes one more step to bridging it?
When Joshi won in 2018 at the DGC, he probably started thinking about going to the next level. And why not, he was playing great, and he was 24 and as he said at the time “many new doors had opened” for him.
Yet, it did not quite happen like that. There was just one top-10 in the whole of 2019 on the Asian Tour and he missed the cut 14 times.
He too used the pause caused by Covid to work on his game and the mental struggles he seemed to be having on the course and on the PGTI there has been a significant improvement in his performance.
“I used the time to work on my game and also to work out what was wrong on and off the course,” said the 29 year old, who also began working with Laurence Brotheridge, Academy Director at The Leadbetter Golf Academy in Pune, India.
Surprisingly, he missed the cut in the first three on this season’s Asian Tour, but that could all change this week.
Says Joshi: “The DGC gets me excited, and I am looking forward to the week.”
NEW DELHI – INDIA – Khalin Joshi of India warms up at the dfriving range ahead of the Pro-am event ahead of the DGC Open presented by Mastercard at the Delhi Golf Club on Wednesday March 23, 2022. The US$ 500.000 Asian Tour event is staged from March 24-27, 2022. Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
By Joy Chakravarty
One of the fun things to do on any legendary golf course is to try and recreate great golf shots that have become part of the club’s folklore.
Tiger Woods’ chip-in on the 16th hole of Augusta National Golf Club during the 2005 Masters; Colin Montgomerie’s 3-wood to the 18th green in the final round of the 1997 Dubai Desert Classic; and then there’s Gaurav Ghei’s audacious chip-in for eagle on the 18th hole of Delhi Golf Club to win the 1995 Gadgil Western Masters, on the Asian Tour.
On second thoughts, strike out the last one. Ghei’s magic shot to the back-left pin will never be repeated. Of course, you can try something similar, but the shot will now require a much different trajectory and a much different line.
The reason for this is that nine-time Major champion Gary Player has redesigned the famous course and so when the cream of the Asian Tour arrive for the US$500,000 The DGC Open presented by Mastercard this week it promises to be a whole new experience for them.
The South African was given the complex and demanding task of redesigning a masterpiece; it wasn’t a simple ‘restoration’, for a golf club the Asian Tour has not visited since the Panasonic Open India in October 2018,
What used to be a golf course that placed a huge premium on hitting straight off the tee (missing fairways at “DGC”, as it’s better known, is a guaranteed bogey) is now an even more demanding test after the charismatic Player worked his magic on all 18 greens, and repositioned various bunkers.
When it was finally opened to the public towards the end of 2019, after months of refurbishment, the ‘new’ golf course won plaudits from members and seasoned professionals.
“We’ve put a grass down called Mini Verde on the greens, which is a great grass,” said 86-year-old Player.
“We have changed the contours of all the greens and added slopes and run-off areas, and we’ve made the golf course slightly longer than it was. We have repositioned many bunkers. And the big thing that we did was give proper drainage to these greens. You know how the rains can be in India, but the course will now drain much faster. I think we did a very good job.”
Gaurav Ghei of India (Photo by Warren Little/Getty Images).
The last redesign of the DGC was way back in 1977, under the eyes of five-time Open champion and a good friend of Gary Player – Australian great Peter Thomson.
“There’s a great saying by Shakespeare – change is the price of survival. We’ve got to keep abreast of the technology and times. The golf course is the most important thing. I am well aware that 20-30 years from now, somebody else will come along and change everything that I have done,” said Player when asked if designers get emotional when changing a classic golf course.
The proof of the pudding, as is well known, is in the eating and nobody is better qualified to critique Player’s work than the 52-year-old Ghei – a three-time winner on the Asian Tour, the first Indian to qualify for The Open (in 1997) and someone who knows the golf course better than the back of his hand.
“It’s not so much a redesign as much as it is making it a little bit more challenging using the essential character of the course. I think Gary Player has done a great job of that,” said Ghei.
“Earlier, if you hit your tee shot on the fairway at DGC, you knew you’d make a par nine times out of 10. That’s no longer the case now. We’ve got some really, really, interesting pin positions; there are slopes and run-off areas. And if they can make it as firm and fast as it was when the new greens were launched, it will become very, very interesting.
“Before 2019, all the tough pins were traditionally at the back of the green. But now, some of the toughest pins are on the front of the green as the entrance is so narrow, and if you miss it on the wrong side, you’re going to struggle big time. You need to have a wide repertoire of short game shots.”
Ghei has spent a lot of time playing with fellow professionals and club members and gives a glowing review of Player’s work.
“I think Gary’s team, given the mandate they had, totally delivered what was expected. I love the fact that the character of the golf course is still the same, and yet it has become far more challenging. With the rains and COVID, we have a little bit of issues with the grass, but the course has been shut for two weeks and I can’t wait to see how it looks for the tournament,” said Ghei.
“As a member, I’m totally 110% happy with what they’ve done with our course.”
One person Gary Player will miss immensely during his visit to New Delhi is the former Club President Siddharth Shriram, a good friend of his and the man who was instrumental in not just conceptualising The DGC Open presented by Mastercard, but also played a key role in the redesigning of the course.
“Yes…I have nothing but the highest respect for Siddharth. I will really miss him. You know, memories are the cushions of life. And he was such a lovely man,” said Player of the late Shriram, who passed away last year following COVID-related complications.
“In fact, I’ve also just lost my wife. And you know, I think the Indians have a wonderful philosophy about life and death in their belief that life is a part of death. Life has got to go on and we learn to live with wonderful memories, and that is the greatest gift bestowed upon us by the Lord. I have stories I can be grateful for.”
After an absence of more than three years the Asian Tour is finally going back to one of its most recognisable and classic venues, the Delhi Golf Club, for the US$500,000 The DGC Open presented by Mastercard and great things are expected from one relative newcomer Karandeep Kochhar.
An impressive field has entered the inaugural event, and the young man from Chandigarh in North West India – a region that has produced so many of the country’s greatest golfers, including two-time Asian Tour number one Jeev Milkha Singh – has been in fine form of late, writes Olle Nordberg – Contributing Editor, Asian Tour.
Having finished second on the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) Order of Merit in 2021 and posting a victory at the Gujarat Open Golf Championship in late February on the same tour, he finished 16th at the recent International Series Thailand after being tied-second going into the last round.
“I’m obviously feeling quite good after the last few weeks. I’m playing well, just making some mental errors, but other than that I have been playing well. I think that showed in the last two-three weeks,” said Kochhar.
“In Thailand it was such a huge event so overall I’m very pleased. I think I was kind of nervous out there obviously, but I think I learned a lot from it and will hopefully come back stronger in Delhi. I’m definitely looking forward to having an Asian Tour event in Delhi.”
The 22 year old should certainly feel comfortable on the famous Lodhi Course at Delhi Golf Club where he has already come close to winning: finishing tied-second behind compatriot Shiv Kapur in the Panasonic Open India in his rookie season back in 2017.
He added: “Obviously it’s familiar conditions. I’m going to be staying at home, we have a house in Delhi, so all those things I think will make a huge difference. You know, you’ve got family around you, so that familiarity and comfort is really important.
“I think Delhi Golf Club suits my game. The thing that works to my advantage is that it’s not the longest of golf courses and most of the par fives are reachable in two, even for a player like me who doesn’t hit it very far. I think that works in my favor, but at the end of the day you just have to play well.”
Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
The Lodhi Course has recently undergone renovation by Gary Player Design, focusing mainly on the green complexes, and the course will be playing differently since the Asian Tour was last there in October of 2018 for the Panasonic Open India, won by India’s Khalin Joshi.
“The course just looks different now. The greens are completely different, and they have put a lot of runoff areas with tight lies around the greens. So, I think short game and chipping around the greens has definitely become tougher. The greens are a little more undulating now,” added Kochhar, who has claimed three PGTI titles.
“I think now how the course is playing, whoever putts well is going to win. Earlier I think Delhi Golf Club was a course where you had to hit it straight, you had to hit great shots off the tees to keep it in play, but I think with the way the course is right now, maybe it’s going to be more of a short game course. I think the player who has played well next week is going to have had a great week on the greens.”
Kochhar can also take some inspiration and confidence from Indian star Anirban Lahiri’s fantastic runner-up finish at The Players Championship last week, having beaten Lahiri in a playoff to win the Jeev Milkha Singh Invitational in December 2020.
“I think obviously that does wonders for golf in India, he’s a player I admire so much. I got to learn so much from him when I played with him, so I think if I look at the whole perspective, I think it’s absolutely phenomenal for Indian golf,” he said.
“Some of the people in our country could see that, you know, guys making US$2 million in a week. That could probably enhance and grow the game in India, so it was huge. If I think back to that weekend at Jeev’s event, it probably was one of my proudest moments to beat Anirban in that playoff. He’s a player of such high calibre, so obviously that gives me confidence. You know, if he can do it at the highest level, if we believe and work hard enough, maybe we can do it as well.”
Having grown up in Chandigarh, Kochhar had no shortage of other successful players to look up to, ask for advice and to learn from.
“Jeev Milkha Singh was my idol and mentor, put it that way. Because he was the first player from our country, let alone from my city, to really make it out there. I still go to him for advice or if something is bothering me, because he’s just really helpful in all his advice,” said the Indian.
Picture by Paul Lakatos/Asian Tour.
“Shubhankar Sharma as well because he’s a person I hang out with a lot when he’s in Chandigarh. We play golf together, chill in the evenings. He’s a person from who I learned quite a lot. In fact, some of the shots which I have in my arsenal were really inspired by looking at Shubhankar’s videos.
“We also have Gaganjeet Bhullar from Chandigarh who’s like an older brother to me. So, you know, a combination of all these players, I’m really close to all of them, we are friends outside of the golf course as well. All these players really helped me to get comfortable on the Asian Tour.”
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