World famous golfer and Olympian, Udayan Mane is all set to participate in the upcoming J&K Open, 2021 golf tournament organised by Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) here at Royal Springs Golf Course (RSGC) from tomorrow. The event is being sponsored by Tourism Department.The tournament is going to feature some of the popular players including Jyoti Randhawa and PGTI Order of Merit leader Karandeep Kochhar in addition to international players from Bangladesh.These announcements were made today in a press conference attended by Secretary Tourism, Sarmad Hafeez; Director Tourism, Kashmir, GN Itoo; Director, SKICC and Secretary RSGC, Bakshi Humayun Javid and representatives of PGTI and other national golfers.Sarmad declared that by organising this premier golf tournament J&K is making a statement that it is one of the best golfing destinations in the world. He exuded confidence that time is not far when J&K would host prime international tournaments.The Tourism Secretary further elaborated that J&K has a professional and aesthetic circuit of golf courses in the shape of RSGC, Lidder Valley Golf Course, Pahalgam, Gulmarg Golf Course Kashmir Golf Club and Sidhra Golf Course, Jammu. He invited all the national players to come and play the game in each of this golf course and experience the difference.
Sarmad also hoped that the locals would also be groomed to make a mark internationally in golfing. He maintained that we are aspiring to produce golfers fit to represent the country in international games. He said that this tournament would also offer an opportunity to the golfers here to hone their skills in the game.He invited the players to come here to ‘see the world'. He said that be it water sports, winter games, or other hiking expeditions, J&K has everything to offer.The Secretary also thanked the PGTI for choosing J&K for such a prestigious tournament. He put his gratitude to all the sponsors of the tournament including Radisson Hotel, Skyview, Whizkid etc.The Tournament Director, PGTI, Sampath Chari said that the tournament has another striking factor that players’ performance would reckon for official world ranking points. He maintained that the golf courses here are mesmerizing with improved greens, tees etc than what was seen earlier.He revealed that J&K Open, 2021 is PGTI's 3rd tournament of the season organised after 5 months of covid break. He said that the tournament attracted 125 golfers which includes both international, national and local players.The tournament is being played from 15th to 18th of this month. The other official partners includes RSGC, Incredible India and J&K Golf Development &Management Authority.