Stage set for inaugural Bhatiary Open

The first-ever professional golf tournament will begin at the Bhatiary Golf and Country Club when the inaugural Bhatiary Open 2001 commences at the lush green course from Tuesday. The four-day strokeplay event will be followed by a pro-am on Saturday.

The Bhatiary Open 2001 also marks a first in the history of the Wills Sport Golf Tour when it touches the second foreign locale apart from Nepal, which hosts the Surya Nepal Masters. The tournament offers Rs. 1 million in prize- money. The winner will get to take home a purse of Rs. 1,62,000 while the runner-up will be richer by Rs.1,12,000.

Brainchild of the former senior vice-president, Major General Abu Kaiser Fazlul Kabir, and supported by other members of the executive committee, the Bhatiary Open will play host to a number of Wills Sport and Asian PGA Tour regulars. Among them are current leader of the Order of Merit, Shiv Prakash; Order of Merit winner for past three seasons, Vijay Kumar; last season’s ‘Player of the Year’ award winner, Mukesh Kumar and former Indian Open champion Feroz Ali.

Also present will be India's most successful player for the past two-and-a-half decades and winner of the just-concluded TNGF Open in Madras, veteran Rohtas Singh.

The Tour regulars will however have to stave off the challenge from the young turks including current All-India Amateur champion and leading rookie Rahul Ganapathy, Amit Dube and Digvijay Singh, who won the BPGC Open in his rookie season last year.

Shiv Prakash, along with Vijay Kumar and Mukesh Kumar, will start as the favourites for the title and have already made clear their intent by playing four practice rounds over the last three days. Each of them is keener than the other to make the inaugural version of the Bhatiary Open his own.

The Bangladesh challenge will be headed by Tour regulars Chand Mia and Babu Ahmed but the important advantage gained this week will be by the up-and-coming talents that exists in this country. They have made great inroads with cricket and judging by the excellent arrangements, golf is all set to become immensely popular in the country.

Golf is being touted as the game of the new millennium and Bangladesh has kept pace with the changing times. The country boasts of two 18-hole facilities but the Bhatiary Golf & Country Club is arguably the best kept secret of the Asia Region.

The course, nestled among thick forest, was designed by a Scottish tea planter, WLC Petrie and has steadily kept pace with golf course development and choice of maintenance machinery to become a true test for the most accomplished player. It plays to its full length of 6,495 yards and the par for this most scenic facility is 37 for the outward journey and a return nine of 35 to total 72.

With such a great setting and an extremely competitive field, there is immense enthusiasm amongst the locals here. Almost everyone is looking forward to a competitive event that will be an ideal launch pad for professional golf in Bangladesh.