Chandigarh Golf League 2024: Panthers, Captain’s 18 share the spoils as joint champions
Chandigarh Gladiators, meanwhile, secured a third-place finish after winning a tense five-hole playoff against The Mulligans after both the teams were tied as well
Being contested in pursuit of the crown, the Chandigarh Golf League’s summit clash saw Captain’s 18 and Partee Panthers end with tied scores and being declared joint champions.
As many as five playoff holes were halved in fading light at the Chandigarh Golf Club Greens to see the final outcome of the final. Both sides halved their seven games after winning three each and sharing a point in one four-ball game.
Chandigarh Gladiators, meanwhile, secured a third-place finish after winning a tense five-hole playoff against The Mulligans after both the teams were tied as well.
The final began with a Captain’s 18 shuffling their line-up as IS Atwal lost 3&2 to Pathers’ Rabiya Gill. Kanwal Bajwa followed with an upset with a point back against K Raghav Bhandari for the defending champions Captain’s 18.
Ramnik Tiwana, Flt Lt Sukhinder Singh along with Simarinder Singh and Bharat Bhandari scored easy wins for the Panthers, but Captain’s 18 were in no mood to roll over. The Bhupinder Mundh-Rajiv Moudgil and Padamjit Sandhu-Pukhraj Brar pairings brought their team level again and it all came down to the penultimate game, where Yadvinder Bains and Wg Cdr LS Sandhu squared against Rohit Mittal and Sanjam Harish to force a playoff.
Both sides had their chances in the playoff as Gill and Bhandari faced Sandhu and Bajwa. The first playoff hole was halved after Gill had a look in for a birdie while Sandhu had a chance for an eagle on the second, which was halved on birdies from either side. After the third hole, neither team showed much initiative with the third being halved as Bhandari missed a short one that could have won his side the championship.
The sudden death fourth hole saw Bajwa recover from a bad second shot. Rabiya was in with a shot to putt out a two footer but missed and the fifth hole was played in virtual darkness. Bajwa again recovered to make a nett par while Raghav’s 15-feet putt lipped out to halve the hole. At that point, light was offered to both teams but they decided that further play could not continue before being declared joint winners.
The Mulligans saw themselves in a second consecutive third-place playoff, this time against the Gladiators. They could not get over the line just like in their semi final.
Bismad Singh won his singles 3&2 after being 4-down at the halfway stage. Brig PPS Dhillon scored a 4&3 victory in the other singles for the Gladiators as Col VP Singh-Lt Gen BS Sachar won 1-up and Inderpreet Singh-Jaspartap Sekhon 3&2 to put the Gladiators ahead.
Gauhar Pruthi and Fateh Singh Dhillon came back with a 6&5 win for The Mulligans as did SS Matharoo and APS Kahai, who closed out a 4&2 encounter. The match went into a playoff as the last game was halved as Angad Sangha and Col Harjeet Singh.
The playoff saw plenty of thrills as the first four holes were halved and Col SDS Batth and Brig PPS Dhillon won the fifth playoff hole after surviving Bismad Singh and Gauhar Pruthi’s charge on the three previous holes.
Results
Final: Captain’s 18 3.5 - 3.5 Partee Panthers; match halved after 5 playoff holes
Third place playoff: Muliigans 3.5 - 3.5 Chandigarh Gladiators; Gladiators won on the 5th playoff hole