Gaganjeet Bhullar to compete at Golconda Masters Golf Championship

Hyderabad: A five-time winner on the Asian Tour, Indian golfer Gaganjeet Bhullar will compete in the inaugural Golconda Masters Golf Championship to be held at the newly-transformed Hyderabad Golf Course (HGC) from Thursday.

The Hyderabad Golf Association and the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) today launched the Rs 40 lakh event, which will see the participation of the cream of Indian professional golf.

Top 120 professional golfers from India and neighbouring countries, including S Chikkarangappa, Shankar Das, Chiragh Kumar, Mukesh Kumar, Om Prakash Chouhan, Shamim Khan, Angad Cheema and Abhijit Singh Chadha, will tee up as Hyderabad hosts its first ever professional golf championship.

The foreign challenge will be led by the Sri Lankan trio of N Thangaraja, Anura Rohana, K Prabagaran and Bangladesh's Md Zamal Hossain Mollah.

The tournament was inaugurated by the Chief Minister of Telangana, K Chandrashekar Rao on Tuesday.

Padamjit Sandhu, Director, PGTI, said, "We are excited about making our debut in the state of Telangana. The Golconda Masters provides us a platform to promote the Hyderabad Golf Course as a popular golfing destination in the country.

"We are confident that India's top professionals will relish the experience of playing at this unique venue set in the midst of the historic Golconda Fort complex."

The Pro-Am event will be played on Sunday.

"We are proud indeed to host this prestigious tournament at Hyderabad Golf Club, a course that's as challenging as it is beautiful. It's only fitting that the world's top golfers will match their skills while soaking in some of the most spectacular historical beauty Telangana has to offer," said N Ramesh Reddy, President, HGA.

Bhullar won the 2009 Indonesia President Invitational, 2010 Asian Tour International in Thailand, 2012 Yeangder Tournament Players' Championship in Chinese Taipei, 2012 Venetian Macau Open and the 2013 Indonesia Open.