Prestige Golfshire Club’s immaculate fairways and greens tested a quality field to the full on a windy Saturday morning with Jayanthi G. Ravi, Kedarnath Mudda and Loy Halder emerging deserving winners at the Royal Ranthambore presents BT Golf Bangalore tournament at the Prestige Golfshire Club on the day.
The much-coveted event was co-powered by Qatar Airways and Indian Oil XP 100 with Morris Garages as mobility partner, Rajasthan Tourism and tourism partner and O3+ as the event’s gifting partner.
Jayanthi totalled 34 points in the ladies section while Mudda and Halder had 35 and 37 points to top the men’s 15 to 24 handicap and 0 to 14 handicap, section in the face of stiff competition.
Former India fast bowler and now senior Air India official, Dodda Ganesh, was the day’s chief guest and was amongst those who gave away the various prizes.
He was joined on the dias by Business Today Executive Director and News Director for India Today TV and Aajtak, Rahul Kanwal, Ankur Sachdeva, president operations, Radico, Bijoy Padmanabhan, country manager, southern and eastern India Qatar Airways, and Alok Nair, chief revenue officer, Business Today.
Speaking to BT Golf later, Jayanthi said the initiative was a welcome one and hoped more entries would be received in the years to come for the ladies section. “It was a lot of fun out there today but I wish there were more girls participating. It would have made the competition even more interesting on this challenging course,” Jayanthi, who is a partner in LEEP Services LLP said.
Said Loy Halder, winner of the premier 0 to 14 handicap section, associated with tech startup 91 Social, and formerly a managing director with Goldman Sachs, “This is an excellent and
most welcome initiative by the Business Today brand. There are many corporate events being held these days but none by a media powerhouse like the Business Today/India Today/Aajtak combine. That alone elevates this event to a different level.”
Doddanarsiah Ganesh, who played in four Test matches for India in South Africa and the West Indies and ended with 365 wickets from 104 matches at an average of 29.42 in first class cricket, welcomed the BT Golf initiative and said he would very much like to play at the event the next time it was held in Bangalore.
The former fast bowler, who dabbled with golf during a county stint in the 90s, later spent quality time at the driving nets and putting green in trying to sharpen up his skills.
Amongst the winners of the individual prizes were Sudarshan Maney (straightest drive) who was adjudged best on the basis of a longer drive, Sundarraj Mahadevan (closest to pin) and Abhijeet Singh (longest drive) who powered the ball to a massive 300 yards.
Results
Closest to pin (overall, hole no. 6): Sundarraj Mahadevan, 9 feet.
Straightest drive (overall, hole no. 4): Sudarshan Mane, on the line
Longest driver (overall, hole no. 13): Abhijeet Singh, 300 yards.
15 to 24 handicap: Winner – Kedarnath Mudda, 34 points; Runner-up – Freddy Williams 27 points.
0-14 handicap: Winner – Loy Halder 37 points; Runner-up – Arvind Rathore, 36 points.
Ladies: Winner – Jayanthi G, Ravi 34 points.