PGTI to be rechristened Open Tour

The Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) is set to become an 'Open Tour' from 2018.

There will be no restriction on the number of foreigners on the tour once they earn their cards through the PGTI Qualifying School. The PGTI previously had a maximum limit of 15 foreign players in a tournament. With the PGTI becoming an 'Open Tour' from next season, the tour also hopes to soon align itself with the Official World Golf Ranking (OWGR) system thus attracting world ranking points for its future events.

The PGTI has also announced its calendar for the first half of the 2018 season. The PGTI will host eight tournaments between the months of January and April. The first half of the year will feature three new events. The total purse on offer (in the first half) is approximately Rs. 2.8 crore, an increase of Rs. 20 lakh compared to last season.

The 2018 season will tee-off on January 24 with the inaugural Dhaka Open at the Kurmitola Golf Club in Dhaka, Bangladesh. The event worth approximately Rs 40 lakh will be tri-sanctioned by PGTI, Asian Development Tour (ADT) and the Bangladesh Professional Golfers Association (BPGA). Besides the Dhaka Open, there would be two new additions to the schedule including an event in Delhi NCR.

The PGTI Cochin Masters presented by CIAL Golf Club (Rs. 40 lakh), Golconda Masters (Rs. 40 lakh) and Pune Open (Rs. 30 lakh) are the three established PGTI events that are scheduled for the first half. The two events that return for their second editions are the Chennai Open (Rs. 30 lakh) and the Chittagong Open (Rs. 40 lakh).

The US$ 1.75 million Indian Open, co-sanctioned by the European Tour and Asian Tour, will be the second international event in the first half of the season. The Indian Open, now a PGTI Order of Merit event, is slated to be held from March 8–11.

The first stage of the 2018 PGTI Qualifying School will begin from January 8. It will feature three events of 36-holes each (Pre Qualifying I, II & III).

The final stage of the Qualifying School, a 72-hole event, will be staged from January 17-20. The Qualifying School will be held at the Kensville Golf & Country Club, Ahmedabad.