The Aircel-Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) has announced the Aircel-PGTI Players Championship

The Aircel-Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) has announced the Aircel-PGTI Players Championship presented by Poona Club Ltd which will be held at the Poona Club Golf Course from June 22 to June 25. The tournament carries Rs 40 lakh prize money. The Pro-Am event will be played on June 26.

Jaideep Patwardhan, chairman, Poona Club Ltd. (Golf), said, “We look forward to hosting India’s top professionals during the Aircel-PGTI Players Championship. The course is in great shape and we expect a tough battle for top honours as the stakes are higher than ever before.”

Some of the players who will light up the fairways and greens of the Poona Club Golf Course include Gaganjeet Bhullar, C Muniyappa, Anirban Lahiri, Mukesh Kumar, Himmat Singh Rai, Rahil Gangjee, Mohd. Siddikur Rahman, Khan, Sujjan Singh, Vishal Singh, Gaurav Pratap Singh, Harmeet Kahlon, Digvijay Singh, Vijay Kumar, Harendra Gupta. Pune’s Gurki Shergill, who last year became the first Pune-based player to win a professional event, leads the local challenge along with Rajiv Datar, Dinesh Raghuvanshi, Jaideep Patwardhan and Pravin Pathare.

The course at the Poona Golf Club, laid way back in 1918, is today widely acknowledged as one of the most improved and finest in India. The last professional event at the Poona Club Golf Course, the PGTI Players Championship, played in September 2008, saw Bangladesh’s Mohd Siddikur Rahman post his first professional win in India.

Bayside had arguably the two best female golfers in New York City

For three years, Bayside had arguably the two best female golfers in New York City. Alice Choi won the PSAL individual championships in 2006, 2007 and 2008, while close friend and teammate Han Rin Lee won the individuals in 2009 with second-place finishes in 2006 and 2008.

But their excellence did not translate into team success for the Commodores. Due to a lack of depth, the pair never even saw the postseason in their first three years.

“We were hoping to win [a team championship] this year,” Lee said.

With an able third golfer, Sarah Kim, Bayside did just that, beating Susan Wagner back in November. And Monday night, Choi and Lee were both honored with the PSAL Wingate Award for girls golf at a ceremony at St. Francis College. The recognition goes to the best senior in a given sport, but Choi and Lee were so impressive together that it left the league no choice but to make it a co-award.

“It’s only fitting that there were two this year for golf,” Bayside coach Andrew Cogliati said. “With all their accomplishments, not just in high school but also in individual tournaments, it’s been unmatched.”

Choi and Lee met in seventh grade at the Golden Bear Driving Range in Douglaston and have been inseparable since. Competing against each other in outside tournaments, Choi said, has not put a damper on what has become a longtime friendship.

“We’re like best friends,” she said.

Both will play in the Big East next year. Choi has a golf scholarship waiting for her at Georgetown and Lee has the same at St. John’s. Choi, who didn’t compete in the PSAL individuals this season, was the top golfer at the New York State Junior Championships and the Tournament of Champions in 2009. Lee was the top golfer in her group at the International Junior Golf Tour in 2009.

But rather than all the personal accomplishments they racked up in a remarkable four years, the pair both pointed to winning the team championship this past season as the most memorable moment.

“That was icing on the cake for them,” Cogliati said. “It was our first playoff appearance. We were always missing a third golfer. They really helped out, too.”

The coach said Choi and Lee helped to raise the level of play in New York City girls golf. It has certainly helped his squad. After struggling to put together a competitive team year after year before they got to Bayside, Cogliati said he has eight solid players coming back next year.

“What they’ve done for the school and, I think the sport itself, is set the bar,” he said. “The other girls have followed them, they set the example, and they see they can succeed. We’re gonna miss them. I think the sport is gonna miss them.”