New Delhi, Oct 8 : The fourth edition of the Delhi Golf Club League (DGCL) is being held at the picturesque golf course in the national capital with 24 teams vying for the top honours. Defending champions Christie's Golf captain Bikram Singh is confident of his team retaining the title after the solid start of the tournament.

Christie's Golf defeated Teem EDC 3-2 on the opening day of the league but suffered a 3-2 loss against Bliss Golfers on Tuesday. However, the captain is assertive of their strong show in the remaining league matches.

"We're defending champions, we're coming with a lot of confidence. We got off to a great start, we won our first match and players gelled together. In the coming games we will get stronger and stronger," Bikram told IANS.

"Our philosophy has been very simple over the years, we've a good bunch of golfers and we enjoy our time together on the golf course. We play in the true spirit of sportsmanship with integrity and we give our best," he added.

Being one of the oldest teams in the league, Bikram is happy to see the success of the tournament over the years.

"Every year the objective is to make it a better and better golfing event. Obviously, include as many members as possible but at the end of the day it should be about playing good golf. That is what Delhi Golf Club is about, let's churn out good golfers," he said.

In the preparations for the upcoming matches in the league, Bikram said, "We want to be the first defending champions of the Delhi Golf Club League and we're well on our way."

The league is being played on a four-ball better ball Matchplay format and over two stages ' a round-robin stage followed by a knock-out stage. During each playoff match between two teams in the league stage, each team will field 6 pairs (12 players). One pair from each team will play against a pair from the other team in the above-mentioned format, with all the players playing off 90% of their original handicaps.

The 24 teams have been divided into four groups. After the league stage, during which the teams from one group will compete against each other. The top two teams from each group will qualify for the knock-out stage starting with the quarterfinals. In the knock-out stage, the matches between two teams will be contested by seven pairs (14 players). The finals will be played on October 26.

/IANS