KOLKATA: The Indian Golf Union (IGU) launched the East Zone Amateur Feeder Tour here Monday. Altogether 13 tournaments will be held between March 17 and October 6 on seven golf courses spread across West Bengal, Assam, Meghalaya, Bihar, Jharkhand and Odisha.
The Eastern India Amateur Feeder Golf Tour will start with the Patna Amateur event at the Patna Golf Club course on March 17 and will end with the West Bengal State Championship at the Tollygunge Club course here on October 6. Each of the 13 events will be a two-day affair.
The top 20 in each category will earn points which will be the basis of ascertaining the Order of Merit (OoM). A player has to participate in at least four events to feature on the OoM.
“In our country, there is no platform for mid-amateurs and seniors to play in tournaments throughout the year. The mid-amateur and seniors’ events are quite big in several top countries and this initiative will expose them to competitive golf,” said Tour director Indrajit Bhalotia at a press conference here on Monday.
“This is the first of its kind event in the country. This will give the golfers a chance to qualify for various events (including the National Amateur Tour) as well as the national team.”
The tour will serve as a platform for selecting India teams for events such as the annual matchplay test against South Africa and will have spots in the national amateur circuit, said Bhalotia.
TOUR CALENDAR
March 17-18: Patna Amateur; March 29-30: Tolly Classic; April 5-6: Jamshedpur Amateur; April 26-27: Kolkata Masters (RCGC); May 3-4: Tolly Amateur Open; May 10-11: Jharkhand Classic; May 19-20: Kaziranga Amateur; Kolkata Invitational (May); June 1-2: Shillong Amateur; June 28-29: Tolly Masters; Kolkata Masters (July); Sep 20-21: Bhubaneshwar Masters; Oct. 5-6: West Bengal State Championship (Tolly).
