Kolkata is known for being a city steeped in history and the Royal Calcutta Golf Club while a proud part of this legacy can boast of being the oldest golf club outside the British isles with this institution having been founded in 1829.
When the club is so old, annual events would naturally be a significant part of this grand past and the Merchants Cup, an “inter-company golf event”, goes back to 1906.
In the days gone by, the tea planters from the North-east, oilmen and steel boys from Jamshedpur would add to the turnout and the glamour quotient where with their wives flocking to New Market and other shopping haunts while The Oberoi hotel was the preferred choice for all to stay.
Much has changed in our City of Joy in the last few years but kudos to the RCGC golf committee for rebranding and repositioning this event with a new name — Royal Corporate Championship in association with The Telegraph.
Gross Winning Team — Hanut Alternate Investments LLP — (l-r) Ranjit Singh, Gurshaan Grewal, Arjun Singh, and Lakshman Singh
As expected the response was overwhelming in this city that loves all sport and finally 46 teams of four players each signed up in two divisions with players competing in both the scratch and handicap categories.
Huge shout-out to all the sponsors who backed the event — presenting sponsor Globe India, backed by MG Auto Hi Tech, JW Marriott Kolkata, Callaway, Oakley, Ballantine’s, Hoegaarden, Nanofix, SSI Constructions.
The players enjoyed the competition and hospitality and clearly this new initiative will grow in the years ahead.
Karan Verma, one of the young, upcoming golf stars of Calcutta
The final roll of honour had the Gross Championship being won by Hanut Alternate Investments LLP with 203 points and the nett trophy annexed by Flying Tigers — Manaksia Steel with 220 points and the Division 1 best going to The Bengal Rowing Club with 216 points and Division 2 best going to Shah Brothers with 216 points.
Individual bragging rights went to Gurshaan Grewal with a total 2 round score of 71 points in the Gross Category and Varun Maheshwari winning with 80 stableford points in the nett category.
The evening presentation saw a lavish spread from the JW Marriott with DJ Jasleen in attendance regaling the crowd with a nice mixed song list.
PS Gurung flies in for every event from Siliguri
The final sign-off from all was “we want more”. Captain Rohan Ghosh shared “he was thrilled to see how the members embraced this new event” and the convener Ranjit Singh felt an off-season event like this was the perfect fix to keep the regular golfers engaged and break the monotony of usual play.
We at Brandon Desouza Management Services enjoyed conducting this four-day carnival and to all the stakeholders a huge thank you for their support and participation.
Pictures: B. Halder
Winning team— Flying Tigers
List of prizes
Nanofix Closest to the pin
Day 1 – Gurshaan Grewal – Hanut Alternate InvestmentsDay 2 – Varun Chabbra – Chemi LabsDay 3 – Savinder Singh – CC&FC RedDay 4 – Siddharth Agarwal – GVM (9 feet)
Overall Longest Drive
Day 1 White Tee – Arjun Singh (291) -Seniors – Vikramjit Singh (297) - Red Tee – Yaalisai Verma (291) -Day 2 – White Tee – Akshay Buta - Seniors – Pradeep SurekaDay 3 - White Tee – Jishu BhowmickDay 4 – White Tee – Karan Verma 291 Yards Seniors – Lakshman Singh
Gross Individual –
Gurshaan Grewal with a score of 71 points over the 2 days
Nett Individual –
Varun Maheshwari – 80 Points
Winner Division 2
Shah Brothers 216 points – Deven Shah, Dr Rajesh Venkatesh, Harsh Hada, Sanjiv Sood
Winner Division 1
Bengal Rowing Club 216 points – Atul Almal, Jitendra Khaitan, Sharad Jhawar and Ambrish Daga
Gross Runner-Up Team
The Bald Eagles with 184 points – Arunagata Das, Jaydip Singh, Joysurjo Dey, Samridh Sen
Nett Runner-Up Team
Amarawati Tea – 217 – Akash Sachdev, Varun Maheshwari, Mickey Kapoor, Varun Jalan
Convener of the event and eye on the ball, Ranjit Singh
Gross Winning Team
Hanut Alternate Investments LLP – 203 – Lakshman Singh, Ranjit Singh, Arjun Singh, Gurshaan Grewal
Nett Winning Team
Flying Tigers – Manaksia Steel –220– Kanishka Sethia , Vineet Agarwal, Vishal Singhania, Pratik Lakhotia
Brandon Desouza