New Delhi, Jan 13 : The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) on Monday announced a lucrative and action-packed first half of the 2025 season, which will tee off in February and will offer a whopping Rs 15.66 crore as total prize money. Once underway, the season will feature 11 consecutive weeks of non-stop golfing action, across as many venues, between February and April with a whopping INR 15.66 crore on offer as total prize money (excluding the Indian Open).

One of the key highlights of the season's first half is the addition of four new events on the schedule -- Chattisgarh Open Golf Championship (prize money: INR 1 crore, Venue: Fairway Golf & Lake Resort, Naya Raipur), PGTI Invitational (prize money: INR 1.5 crore, Venue: Jaypee Greens Golf Resort, Greater Noida), Indorama Open Golf Championship (prize money: INR 2 crore, Venue: Kalhaar Blues & Greens, Ahmedabad) and Calance Open (prize money: INR 1 crore, Venue: Delhi NCR). The new events also mark the beginning of PGTI's association with new title sponsors including the Government of Chattisgarh.

The PGTI has so far staged events across India in 16 States, two Union Territories, and the National Capital Territory of Delhi. With the staging of the Chattisgarh Open, the PGTI will make its first foray into the state, thus further expanding its geographical footprint in the country to 17 States.

Arun Sao, Deputy Chief Minister of Chhattisgarh, expressed his excitement about the upcoming Chhattisgarh Open Golf Championship, the first-ever professional golf event in the state.

Sharing his vision for the event and its significance for the region, Sao said: "I am delighted to support the staging of the first-ever professional golf event in Chhattisgarh in association with the PGTI. The inaugural Chhattisgarh Open Golf Championship will play a pivotal role in promoting the state as an attractive golfing destination and placing it firmly on the international golfing map. This event will not only bring leading professionals from India and overseas to Chhattisgarh but will also inspire budding golfers in the state to dream big and aim high.

The Kapil Dev-Grant Thornton Invitational (prize money: INR 2 crore) returns for its third edition with the venue moving to Prestige Golfshire Club in Bengaluru.

The three international events scheduled to be staged in the first half of 2024 are the DP World Tour co-sanctioned Hero Indian Open (prize money: USD 2.25 million) and the Challenge Tour co-sanctioned Kolkata Challenge and Delhi Challenge (both offering prize money of USD 300,000 each).

Another important announcement of the first half is PGTI's new partnership with sports development company Victorious Endeavours whose brand Victorious Choice comes on board as a Tour Partner of the PGTI.

Rahul Mehta, Owner, Vof ictorious Choice, said "It's a privilege and honour for us to be associated with the PGTI driven by a leadership team, comprising the legendary Kapil Dev and the dynamic Amandeep Johl that is eager to set new benchmarks for the sport. As a sports development company, Victorious Endeavours takes great pride in this partnership that also associates us with the finest golfing talent in the country. Victorious Choice created to take the

'Joy of Golfing' to the next level couldn't have asked for a better partnership."

The other major development is the resumption of PGTI's second-tier tour after a five-year gap in the form of PGTI NexGen events. Three PGTI NexGen events, with prize purses of INR 20 lakh each, are slated to be held in the first quarter of 2025 at venues such as Phillaur, Kapurthala, and Golden Greens (Gurugram).

The total prize purse on offer in the first half of the 2025 season has seen an increase of INR 4.5 crore as compared to the first half of 2024. The number of events has also increased from nine to 11 in comparison to last season.

"We at the PGTI are extremely excited to announce a busy first half of the season with more events and a higher prize purse on offer for the professionals as compared to previous years. This is in line with PGTI's core objective of creating maximum playing opportunities for our Indian professionals. We thank our new title sponsors and tour partners for all their support and for sharing our vision of growing Indian professional golf. The new partnerships reflect the positive growth trajectory of Indian golf,' said the President of PGTI, Kapil Dev.

"We are also looking forward to exploring new territory by taking the tour to Chattisgarh for the first time thus expanding PGTI's base across the country. The other key development is the launch of the PGTI NexGen events which will help us create an efficient supply line of talent for the future. I wish the players all the best," he added.

/IANS