Gangjee stars in Hero Golf Pro-Am

Rahil Gangjee, riding on the confidence of his superb showing at the SRF Matchplay last week, fired in the day's best score of four under 68, which helped his team to a third place finish at the Pro-Am of the Rs One million Hero Golf Chandigarh Open 2003.

Three-time Hero Golf Chandigarh Open winner Amritinder Singh and another local golfer Ranjit Singh also warmed up with rounds of 68 each.

The Pro-Am was won by Delhi's Pappan and team, who tallied a score of nett 125 amounting to 19-under par.

Lucknow's Vijay Kumar, who beat Gangjee in the final of last week's Matchplay Championsip once again got the better of his Kolkata rival, when his team beat Rahil's team on a back nine count-back for the second place. The two teams had earlier tied at 126 nett each.

Pappan was accompanied by Col. US Rana, Ashish Bagrodia and Arvind Dutt, while Vijay Kumar's team constituted of AS Grewal, Sanjay Talwar and GS Lehal. Rahil Gangjee teamed up with Col. Iqbal Singh, JS Sidhu and Col. Bajwa.

Pappan, as the professional in the winning team, earned Rs 5,000 for his effort, while Vijay and Gangjee pocketed Rs 3,000 and Rs 2,000 each for their teams finishing second and third.

Rahil Gangjee shared Rs 6,000 with Amritinder Singh Ranjit Singh for returning the 'Best Individual Score by a professional'.

The 'Closest to the Pin on the 14th hole' was returned by Gurkirat Khera, whose ball came to rest just 3 feet four inches from the pin. Rabin Saini returned the 'Longest Drive on hole no. 2' courtesy a 290 yard effort from the tee.

The Pro-am was played on a 'Scramble Format'. The format in question is a unique one where after all partners hit their tee shots on a hole, the best placed ball is selected from where all other partners play their second shots. This procedure is followed till the ball is holed out.

The scoring is done as follows. The team handicap is 75 per cent of the combined average handicap of the three partners, with the handicap limit fixed at 24 for ladies and 18 for gents. The scoring is done on a 'Medal Format', where, in case of a tie, the team with the best score over the last 9, 6, 3, 2 or 1 holes as per the scorecard is the winner.

The field for the Pro-Am included the likes of defending champion, Arjun Singh; thrice-Hero Golf Chandigarh Open winner ('98, '99 & 2000), Amritinder Singh; winner of last week's SRF All-India Matchplay Golf Championship, Vijay Kumar; runner-up at the SRF All-India Matchplay Championship, Rahil Gangjee; the first Indian to qualify for the main draw of a 'Major' (British Open), Gaurav Ghei' twice Honda-Siel PGA Golf Championship winner, Uttam Singh Mundy and a number of other big names on the Tour like Shiv Prakash, Rafiq Ali and Zai Kipgen to name a few.