KOLKATA: India will take on South Africa in the first ever 'Golf Test Series' with eight-strong teams comprising amateurs from both the nations vying for the top honours.
India will be led by Asian Games gold-medallist senior and an Asian Games medallist amateur, Amit Luthra, still a very active player on the domestic circuit.
The three-day series to be contested from December 2 to 4, will be held at the historic Royal Calcutta Golf Club (RCGC), the oldest golf club outside the United Kingdom and the second oldest in the world.
The series will be played on the Ryder Cup format but will feature four matches of foursomes on the first day, followed by four matches of four-balls on Day 2. The third and final day will feature eight singles matches.
The likes of Major winner, Charl Scwhartzel,
Trevor Immelman
and others like Richard Sterne have all participated with distinction in India.
Schwartzel, sometime ago recalled that his win in the All India Amateurs ranked among his best memories of the early part of his career from where he has gone on to become one of the top global stars in professional golf on
PGA Tour
.
The series from the Indian side will see Amit Luthra, an Arjuna Awardee and 1982 Asian Games Gold Medallist, who is also the current winner of the All India Seniors Championship besides Simarjeet Singh (Mid -Am), who is a three-time winner of Sri Lanka Amateur Golf Championships. The Indian Teams are being captained by 'Bunny'
Lakshman Singh
, himself an Arjuna Award winner and Gold Medallist in Asian Games in both individual and team events.
The South African team comprises promising veteran Shaun Stapleton, a five-time Wanderers Champion and also five-time winner of South African Mid - Am Championship with Team Manager Jock Wellington himself being eight-time Club Champion and three-time SA Senior Champion. The team also has ace players like
Steven Williams and Stefan Bommaert amongst them.
South African team: Francois Le Roux,
Steve Williams
, Gerlou Roux, Stefan Blommaert, Morgan Phillips, Mellette Hendrikse, Josef Fourie, Shaun Stapleton.
Indian team: Players: Amit Luthra, Anil Jule, Sanjay Kolhatkar,
Vijay Kumar Bhadana, H S Kang, Simarjeet Singh, Aditya Khaitan, Kailash Dhiwar. Captain: Bunny Lakshman Singh.
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