Golfing takes a ‘swing’ towards fame with the India Golf Awards

Golfingindian.com, a website dedicated to golf and golfer interest, hosted the Take Solutions India Golf Awards last evening at the Oberoi Gurgaon.

The event, in its first edition this year, had in its attendance several veterans and notable names from the Indian golfing community. Unfortunately, most of the prominent female golfers, engaged at a tournament in Thailand, were absent from the awards ceremony.

A protagonist for development of sports in India, Chief Minister of Haryana Bhupinder Singh Hooda, arrived as the Chief Guest and inaugurated the event amidst cheer by successfully scoring at the makeshift putting green. Montek Ahluwalia, Deputy Chairman of the Planning Commission for India and an ardent golf player was the Guest of Honour while legendary Gary Player extended his support to golfingindia.com and the players through a motivating audio-visual played during the event. Golf enthusiast and acclaimed stand-up comic, Papa CJ, bagged the award for Best Newcomer and in return entertained the crowd with a side-splitting act.

Some of the prize winners under various categories were Rashid Khan and Vani Kapoor for Best Players Under 24 category, Anirban Lahiri and Sharmila Nicolette for the People’s Choice category, Jesse Grewal and Nonita Lal Quereshi for Best Teaching Pro, Neha Tripathi and Gaganjeet Bhullar for Best Pro Player, Shiv Kapoor and Arjun Atwal for the Global Recognition category, Delhi Golf and Country Club received the award for Best Golf Academy, DLF was awarded the Best Golf Real Estate Project, Delhi Golf Club won in the Best Golf Course category, Akash Ohri of DLF Golf Resorts received the award for Excellence of Golf Course Management and Sita Rawley won the Lifetime Achievement Award.

In a community where cricket continues to hold a strong monopoly, golf has been largely elitist and undervalued as a sport. In bleak times, the India Golf awards claims to be an advocate for a more supportive and cohesive golfing fraternity that aims to recognize talent and promote better penetration within the country.
Take Solutions was the title sponsor at the event, also powered by Audi, Lufthansa, Nitesh Estates and Indian Terrain.