Inter-city golf event enters 2nd year
The Louis Philippe Cup brought together 20 of the top golfers from PGTI's money list, a smattering of other big names who otherwise ply their trades on foreign tours and three amateurs from each of the 10 cities.
About a year ago, golf jumped onto the league bandwagon with a tournament modelled on cricket's lucrative IPL. The Louis Philippe Cup brought together 20 of the top golfers from PGTI's money list, a smattering of other big names who otherwise ply their trades on foreign tours and three amateurs from each of the 10 cities.
In its second edition now, Indian golf's original inter-city tournament has undergone a few changes. The number of teams is down to nine (the West India team representing Mumbai and Pune will be missing). Some sponsors have changed as have the player line-ups, and the format of the knockout stage has been tweaked a little - stroke-cum-matchplay will be employed instead of matchplay to ensure that each of the matches goes to the 18th hole at the very least.
But the timing of the tournament presents a challenge - even though the event, to be held from February 11-16, is on the PGTI calendar, the fact that the inaugural Golf Premier League (GPL), which also features international golfers including Major winners like Angel Cabrera, will be held the week before might lead to an overkill.
GPL co-founder Shiv Kapur, who represented Delhi in last year's LP Cup but will give it a miss this time around, feels that there is enough space for the two tournaments to co-exist. Even Vikrant Chopra agrees, since Indian golf is still growing. "But there is a conflict of interest," adds Vikrant, who won the inaugural LP Cup with the Ahmedabad team. "Unlike this event, GPL is invite-based."
Quips event promoter Rishi Narain, "Invitation is the best form of flattery," before adding, "We want to highlight Indian players and build a fan connect."