Delhi Golf Club trying its best to host international tournament, says President Bajoria

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New Delhi, Sep 26: The Delhi Golf Club (DGC) management is trying their best to bring back an international tournament following the cancellation of the $750,000 DGC Open after just two editions, MyKhel has learnt.

The DGC Open was inaugurated in 2022 by nine-time Major Champion Gary Player doing the ceremonial tee-off. The player also redesigned the Peacock Course which received rave reviews by both amateur members and professionals.

Title sponsors Mastercard pulled out of the Asian Tour and Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) co-sanctioned event in the third year after increasing the prize fund by a whopping 50% from the inaugural $500,000.

Media reports suggested the reason behind the development was a fallout among DGC board members, however, the president of the iconic course K.K. Bajoria clarified it was due to the title sponsors' overwhelming interest in cricket.

"Mastercard were interested in investing more in cricket than golf. Hence, they chose to pull out of the event. However, we are trying hard to bring an international tournament to DGC. We are in talks with many corporates for the same but it will take time.

"DGC Open started off well and it would have been nice if it could have continued but Mastercard made a big mistake of increasing the prize money by a significant amount in the second edition itself," Bajoria told MyKhel on the sidelines of the launch press conference for the Delhi Golf Club League.

It is interesting to note that DGC used to host both Asian Tour and European Tour events like the Emaar-MGF Indian Masters, Hero Indian Open, Panasonic Open India and SAIL-SBI Open until the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Two new teams to join DGC League

The fourth edition of the DGC League will be staged from October 3 to 26 at the iconic Gary Player layout in the heart of the National Capital. Two new teams Sudhir Power and Victorious Choice will join the quest in the race for the coveted trophy taking the total number of teams to 24.

The inaugural season in 2021 witnessed 18 teams compete while 20 teams competed in the 2022 edition of the League and 22 teams in the 2023 edition. The last edition of the League (2023) was won by Christie's Golf while 'The A-Team' (2022) and 'Deutsche Motoren' (2021) were the winners in the previous two editions.

The 24 competing teams will comprise 19 players each taking the total field to 456 players. The field is inclusive with each team comprising of juniors, ladies, seniors and regular players. The recently modified handicap system will ensure that all teams have an equal chance to win.

The League will be played on a four-ball better ball Matchplay Format and over two stages - a round-robin stage with 13 rounds followed by three knock-out rounds.

During each playoff match between two teams in the Round Robin stage, each team will field 6 pairs (12 players). One pair from each team will play against a pair from the other team in a four-ball better ball Matchplay format with all the players playing off 90% of their original handicaps. The teams will get points for their wins.

The 24 teams have been divided into 4 groups. After the round-robin stage, during which the teams from one group will compete against each other, the top 2 teams from each group will qualify for the Knock-out stage starting with the Quarter-finals. In the Knock-out Stage, the matches between two teams will be contested by 7 pairs (14 players). The Finals will be played on October 26, 2024.

The 24 teams competing in the League are: The A-Team, Sterling Swingers, Baale Golf, Eagles & Birdies, Christie's Golf, SwingKKings, Shiva, Bajaj Foundation, Tee Birds, The Pioneers, MMG Coca-Cola, 24 Secure Lions, TEEm EDC, Royal Ranthambore Athletic Drive, Deutsche Motoren, Birdie Machine, Ardee Masters, Bliss Golfers, BI Luxury, Bharat Strikers, Golf Code, Dayal Opticals, Victorious Choice and Sudhir Power.