Inaugural edition of PGTI’s 72 The League from Tuesday

The first official franchise-owned golfing league in the country had its opening ceremony here on Saturday night with the inaugural edition set to tee off on Tuesday at the ITC Classic course, Gurugram.

Launched by the PGTI, ‘72 The League’ will have leading Indian golfers on the domestic professional circuit, including Manu Gandas, Ajeetesh Sandhu and Viraj Madappa, take on each other in match-play format comprising singles, four-ball and foursomes contests. The league features six teams of 10 professionals each.

Current PGTI Order of Merit leader Honey Baisoya is the most expensive buy at ₹20.50 lakh by Capital Lancers while the 16-year-old Kartik Singh, who turned professional only last September, will be the youngest on the course.

Madappa, returning after an 18-month injury lay-off, admitted it would be a different experience. “Golf is a very individual sport but now you have nine other guys behind you, your team strategist, a lot of people you want to do well for and to play for something bigger than ourselves is exciting,” Madappa said.

Veteran Arjun Atwal, named the league’s brand ambassador, hoped it would help make the sport popular. “It’s match play and it’s a team format…I think it’s a brilliant idea to market the game in our country, even to the grassroots,” the 52-year-old USA-based golfer said.

The teams: Capital Lancers, Charminar Champions, Kolkata Classics, Mumbai Aces, Rajasthan Regals, UP Promethans.