Deepak Arora, Rahul Agarwal, Namrata Win Hero Christmas Cup

Rajiv Pasricha, P S Sandhu, Astha Mittal bag Runner-up plaque; Rachit Mathur hits Longest Drive

By Noyanika Arora

GURGAON, Dec 18:

It was lovely Friday winter morning except for the fact that there was dense fog all over the DLF Golf and Country Club. However for the enthusiastic golfers Christmas had arrived few days earlier.

They were arriving one after another to play for the first-ever Hero Christmas Cup at the beautiful course.

The tournament that was to commence at 7.30 am got delayed by almost 45 minutes. That gave more time to 108 passionate golfers that had gathered at the Pavilion restaurant, with 360 degree view of the 27-hole course, to enjoy for longer time sumptuous spread of breakfast with nth varieties of teas and coffees.

Some of them enjoyed the extra time to develop camaraderie with fellow golfers, while some others warmed up at the practice range.

The golf carts were lined up on both sides of the Pavilion for Gary Player front and back nines with well-dressed caddies in attendance.

While welcoming the golfers, Rama Chawla, General Manager (Marketing & Member Relations) of the DLF Golf Club, said that it was for the first time that the Club was holding Hero Christmas Cup.

She said there has been overwhelming response to the tournament. However, due to the playing terms limitation, the field was limited to 108 players.

Rama Chawla wished all the members happy festive and holiday season.

Explaining the rules of the game, Karan Bindra said it would be played for 18 holdes on Stableford format with ¾ handicap.

He said there were also individual skill competition such as Closest to Pin, Longest Drive and Straightest Drive.

During lunch, Karan Bindra announced the much-awaited results. Rajiv Hora, Vice-President, DLF Golf Club, presented the prizes to the winners.

While Deepak Arora lifted the Winner’s Trophy in the Men’s 13-24 handicap category, Rahul Agarwal won the Trophy in the Men’s 0-12 handicap category.

While Rajiv Pasricha won the Runner-up plaque in the Men’s 13-24 handicap category, P S Sandhu bagged the Runner-up plaque in the Men’s 0-12 handicap category.

In the ladies category, Namrata Dhir lifted the Winner’s Trophy and Astha Mittal won the Runner-up plaque.

Rachit Mathur with a massive drive of 310 yards and Namrata Dhir with 240 yards won the Longest Drive competition on Hole No. 8 in their respective sections.

With 1 ft and 4 inches, the Closest to Pin prize was won by K K Sindhu at Hole No. 5. With 6 inches from the centre line, V K Kaushik won the Straight Drive Prize at Hole No. 15.

Deepak Arora, Puja Batra lift Maitri Golf Cup

NEW DELHI, Dec 4: The 12th edition of Maitri Invitational Golf Tournament, sponsored by Kohinoor, was held on Friday at the Qutab Golf Course. It saw participation from a cross section of Delhi’s corporate sector and from various supporters and well wishers of Maitri.

The event, started by Gen Bhopinder Singh and his wife Winnie Singh for the cause of supporting the widows of Vrindavan, was a great success and received an overwhelming response.

As many as 110 participants teed off on a perfect golfing day and the tournament which was played on an Individual stableford format.

Deepak Arora won the individual best score with a score of 48 stableford points. DP Singh finished Runner up with a score of 45 points. The second Runner Up was Sujit Nagrath with again 45 points.

The Best Lady golfer was Puja Batra who scored 33 Points.

The Prize was Loka Lifestyle Trophy.

In the overall skill prizes, Rahul Chaudhary won the GolfLan Longest Drive Hole # 1 with 318 yards. The GolfLan Straightest Drive at Hole # 18 was won by Rahul Sachdeva with 5 inches.

The skills based prizes created a lot of excitement during the tournament.

The popular tournament was earlier inaugurated by Dr Farooq Abdullah. It has been conducted for 12 years.

It was managed by SLW and Digraj Golf.

The tournament raised funds for the widows of Vrindavan.