The Legends Tour will stage its first ever event in India next month, with the India Legends Championship hosted by Jeev Milkha Singh. The event is also sanctioned by the Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and will see 10 Indian golfer’s taking part in the tournament, including the host as well as fellow Legends Tour member Jyoti Randhawa.
Jaypee Greens GC in Greater Noida on the outskirts of Delhi will be the host venue for the inaugural India Legends Championship hosted by Jeev Milkha Singh from 29th August to 1st September. The DP World Tour has previously held the Avantha Masters at Jaypee Greens, a Greg Norman-designed course, in 2013.
Jaypee Greens GC
The Dubai Golden VISA Awardee has won four DP World Tour titles and is one of the leading professional golfers to have emerged from India. Speaking about the announcement and his role as host he said: “I am really excited to have the first senior golfing event, especially a Legends Tour tournament, in India with all the top names coming playing.
“It’s going to be a big boost to Indian golf. It is really special for me, and I’m really excited that I’m going to be hosting and playing this event at Jaypee Greens.
“Playing in front of my home crowd is a treat for me and hopefully for the fans out there too. Hopefully these guys can come and see the players, who’ve they’ve seen on tv, playing right in front of them. It’s a Greg Norman designed golf course, an open golf course with a lot of water. It’s a long golf course and the ball is not going to run too much. You’re going to need to fly it to the flags, with good distance control.
“Golf is the fastest growing sport in our country today. There are a lot of good young players coming out – we have a very good junior program, a very good professional tour. The way things are going, we are going to see a lot more professional golfers coming out of India who are going to be playing on the world stage and making the country proud.”
Legends Tour CEO Phil Harrison commented, “It’s massive, because India is such a large country. For the Legends Tour, there is just a great opportunity. Delhi’s an iconic international, a wonderful city and to have a first tournament in Delhi is great.
“One of our mission statements is to grow the game, and this is why we’re going global, going to Africa, to Asia, and India is a big part of that for us. There is a growing part of the demographic developing in India that are taking up golf and with our profile, our players, it is a great fit.
“India is an economic powerhouse and the timing for us to go there is great, hosting a tournament and building on other projects to help grow the game. We want to help improve participation in golf in India and assist stakeholders in the creation of more facilities for the Indian public and tourists to enjoy.
“After Covid, we only had 8 or 9 events which were mainly based in Europe apart from our MCB Tour Championship in Mauritius. But now, we’re in Asia, Mexico, the Caribbean, Africa and Europe – it’s just fantastic and says a lot about the mission to make our brand global. We’re creating more playing opportunities alongside our Legends Tour professionals than ever before, our media profile is rising, and we are strengthening our corporate engagement and our destination marketing for tourism too.”
Images: Legends Tour
