Ronald Das and Rajesh Sawhney Qualify from Noida Leg Day 2 of MercedesTrophy for National Finals

Noida: City Golfers Ronald Das Handicap Category A (0-16) and Rajesh Sawhney - Handicap Category B (17-24) qualified for the National Finals of MercedesTrophy 2018 on day 2 of the Noida leg qualifier held at the Jaypee Greens Golf Resort. Ronald and Rajesh clinched the two qualification spots available on Day 2 of the leg by carding a nett. score of 70 and 72 respectively.The MercedesTrophy 2018 has so far seen 41 qualifiers including today who will be competing in the National Finals to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune from 4-6 April 2018.
Speaking on his win CAT A winner Ronald Das said, “It feels ecstatic and it was an amazing experience. I really appreciate the effort of the entire Mercedes team.”
Commenting on the qualification CAT B winner Rajesh Sawhney said, “It was very exciting for me to win today for which I have been working very hard. Overall experience of the tournament was excellent in my view.”
The best Gross Winner of the day was Karan Dev Tayal with an excellent round of 76 and there were a host of other prizes on offer to be won on the day.
Prominent winners included Sushant Khanna who won the Ballantine’s Long Drive Challenge with a mammoth drive of 300 yards. Sumit Kapur won the Mercedes-Benz Closest to Pin contest on hole no. 1 by landing the ball at 6 ft. from the pin. In the Mercedes – Benz Closest to Pin in Two Shots, Kartik Talwar landed the ball at 2 ft. 1 inch from the pin to win the contest on hole no. 1. Rahul Garg won the Mercedes-Benz Straightest Drive contest on hole no. 11 by landing the ball at 5 inches from the line.
The format of play was Double Peoria. This unique format of adjusting handicaps of players levels the playing field enabling golfers to have a greater chance of qualifying for the National Finals.
A total of 122 golfers competed on Day 2 of MercedesTrophy Noida leg. The third day of the qualifiers will see a set of 126 golfers set to compete for the two qualification spots available on Day 3. This year’s MercedesTrophy will host 27 days of golf across 12 Indian cities. Pune will also host the national finals at the Oxford Golf Resort between 4th and 6th April 2018.
This year for the first time, Mercedes-Benz’s global charity partner– Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is also associated with the tournament to raise funds for its programmes in India. While participants can donate online or on-ground at the tournament venue, Mercedes-Benz India will donate an equal amount to match the funds raised from participants.
Globally, MercedesTrophy witnesses participation of approximately 60,000 golfers from across 60 countries battling it out for the top prize, making it one of the world’s largest and most coveted sporting events.
The 18th edition of the MercedesTrophy after the Noida qualifiers will travel to Jaipur as the last leg of the 12 city qualifiers. Forty-five winners will be selected from the qualifiers for the National Finals. The qualifiers end on March 11, 2018 in Jaipur.
Three winners of the National Finals will then compete against those from tournaments played in 60 countries all over the world in the 29th edition of the MercedesTrophy World Final to be held in Stuttgart, Germany. Mercedes-Benz is also providing an opportunity for beginners to learn golf through their Golf Clinic program.