The Golmuri greens will match the famed golf turfs of Calcutta, Mumbai and Delhi this time.

Turned into an 18-hole course six years ago, the Golmuri facility has a speed of around 10 — like the ones at Royal Calcutta Golf Course, Bombay Presidency Golf Club, and the DLF golf course in Delhi.

The Golmuri golf course will host the Rs 1.5-crore prize money Tata Steel Tour Championship from Thursday.

Alan Singh, who captained the Indian golf team at the 1982 Asian Games in Seoul, said they measured the speed using a Stimpmeter, a devise used to measure the speed of a golf course by applying a known force to a golf ball and measuring the distance travelled in feet.

“Yes, the speed of the greens last year was around nine. Speedy greens require great touch and better putting. Good putters prefer fast golf courses,” Singh added.

He said the fairways at the Golmuri golf course have the right cushion.

“These are the attributes of a good turf which suit golfers in professional competitions,” he said, explaining that golfers need to maintain a very good degree of precision on such fast greens.

According to him, they measured the speed recently.

“It’s a very good sign for professional championships. This is a result of turf’s proper maintenance,” Singh said, adding that the smooth grassy surface would help golfers in putting to precision — a key element in professional competitions.

“Golf is all about precision putting,” Singh remarked.

Jyoti Randhawa, who has nine international wins under his belt, said he was looking forward to play on the Golmuri greens.

“Feel nice to be part of this event,” he added.

Shiv Shankar Prasad Chawrasia, who has won the Tata Steel golf competition three times, said he was playing the championship after a gap of 12 years.

“Let’s see how it plays. The greens look good and should play well. I am looking forward to the championship,” he added.

The likes of the legendary Jeev Milka Singh (13 international wins), Rashid Khan, Chikkarangappa S., veteran Mukesh Kumar, Mithun Perera, N. Thangaraja (both from Sri Lanka) and Md Zamal Hossain Mollah (Bangladesh) are among the 60 professionals who are taking part in the annual event this year.

Fifteen invitee golfers added to the list takes the number to 75 participants.