Smells like tee spirit: BT Golf 2023-24 kicks off in Delhi

More than a 100 corporate leaders took to the greens on a crisp Saturday morning this October to kick off the much-awaited Royal Ranthambore Business Today Golf 2023-24 tournament with panache. The season—which will see the tournament travelling to six more cities in the course of the next few months—could not have asked for a better start than the one it received at the Classic Golf and Country Club near Gurugram in Delhi-NCR on October 21.

Apart from the corporate honchos who teed off that day were two former cricketers who were part of India’s World Cup-winning squads: Madan Lal from the team that won in 1983, and Suresh Raina, who was part of the winning team in 2011. Not just renowned cricketers (former player Murali Kartik was also present) but up and coming pro golfers like Aman Raj, currently No. 2 on the domestic PGTI Rankings, were also present to cheer the players on and share their insights on the players’ game.

The expanded tournament’s first leg—that had a full house and perfect autumn weather—witnessed close competition among the 120 golfers who participated. Pooja Ahluwalia, Director of Ahluwalia Dream Developers; Mahaveer Singhvi, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of External Affairs; and Rajiv Kumar Pandey, Director General of Audit (Central Expenditure) in the Indian Audit and Accounts Department emerged as winners in the ladies, 0-14 Men’s handicap, and 15-24 Men’s handicap categories, respectively.

With tight competition being witnessed in the Men’s 15-24 handicap section, Pandey won based on the performance in the last six holes after he was tied with Ravinesh Kumar, Chief Administrative Officer of Indian Railways, on 46 points. Ahluwalia topped the ladies category with 34 points, while Singhvi won the Men’s 0-14 handicap section with 46 points, ahead of Siddharth Sangwan, MD-Talent at Lightspeed India, who secured 44 points.

Going forward, Qatar Airways will co-power the seven-city season that will wrap up in March 2024. Bandhan Mutual Fund will support the tournament as its investment partner, Darwin Platform Group of Companies as conglomerate partner, O3+ as gifting partner, and MG Motor India as the driving force for the tournament.

While the first leg also saw the likes of Deshant Kaila, MD of PepsiCo GBS India; Anubhav Jain, CEO of Silverglades; Pankaj Tandon, CEO and Joint MD of Jakson Group (EPC Business); Vineet Sharma, Head of Product Management-Trade at IndusInd Bank; Anmol Puri, Partner at Deloitte; Rajesh Sud, MD-Financial Services at Bharti Enterprises; and Anuj Dayal, Executive Director at Delhi Metro Rail Corporation tee off in the hunt for honours and on-course prizes, the upcoming games promise to be as exciting as the one that just concluded, if not more. So, stay tuned.