The Standard Chartered Open 2012 sets the stage for the Professional Golf Tour of India’s (PGTI) debut event in Sri Lanka at the Royal Colombo Golf Club. The four day tournament is the island’s largest ever professional golf event and will be held from 15th to 18th August 2012. Close on 100 professional golfers will compete for the attractive purse; the prize money on offer is USD 50,000.00 (Rs. 6,500,000.00). Indian golfing stars Shiv Kapur and Anirban Lahiri and local stars Mithun Perera and Anura Rohana were on hand today to launch the Tournament trophy.
Anirvan Ghosh Dastidar, CEO Standard Chartered Bank, said: “We are delighted to title sponsor this new and exciting event as a way of supporting the development of golf in Sri Lanka. Local players will have the opportunity to compete against the best of the PGTI tour and maybe we may even see a local winner!”
Standard Chartered Bank’s sponsorship of the Standard Chartered Open 2012 affords the sport the prospect of raising the golfing bar nationally, and the two local stars are enthusiastic about the possibilities. The PGTI has proved a springboard for the development of golf in India and provided opportunities for Indian professionals to compete at higher levels. The Standard Chartered Open 2012, it is hoped, will afford similar opportunities to Sri Lankan professionals to hone their talent.
Padamjit Sandhu from the PGTI commenting on the event said: “The PGTI is always keen to take the Tour to new locations, new countries and play a role in the development of golf, whether in India or elsewhere. Sri Lanka is our third overseas tournament and we are delighted to be able to offer our members, together with a number of local players, the opportunity to enjoy professional golf in Sri Lanka at the Royal Colombo Golf Club.”
The Standard Chartered Open 2012 is being co-promoted by Pro Golf Pvt Ltd, a Colombo based golf marketing and product distribution company and Sports Mantra, a Delhi based sports marketing and events company.