Surya Nepal Pvt Ltd organized a press conference on Monday and informed that the Standard Chartered Pro-Am event will raise the curtains of the tournament on Tuesday.[break]
The main event, a joint-sanctioned between Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) and the Nepal Professional Golfers Association (NPGA), will begin on Wednesday and end on Saturday.
According to NPGA Secretary Deepak Acharya, altogether 126 players, including 30 local professionals and 10 amateurs, are vying for the prestigious title.
"Since last year´s association with PGTI, it is getting stiffer for local golfers, which will give opportunity to them to grow and learn by playing with strong players," said Buddha Singh, vice president marketing of Surya Nepal.
The Nepali challenge will be spearheaded by the in-form Shiva Ram Shrestha, who is currently leading the NPGA Order of Merit with seven titles, Rabi Khadka, Ramesh Adhikari, Surya Sharma and Ramesh Nagarkoti. Deepak Thapa Magar, the only Nepali winner of the Surya Nepal Masters till date, will also contest in the tournament.
The Indian charge will be led by Mukesh Kumar, who finished third on the Order of Merit for 2011. Defending champion Rashid Khan, Shamim Khan, Manav Jaini and former Indian Open winner Vijay Kumar and Mandeo Singh Pathania are amongst the pick of the lot.
Likewise, former Surya Nepal Masters champion Anura Rohana and Mithun Perera, both from Sri Lanka, Mohammed Sayum of Bangladesh and South African Albie Hanekom are other big names participating in the tournament.
"This kind of events will give exposure to the local pros and the progress made by NPGA is great," said Sampat Chani, the tournament director and PGTI representative.
The winner of the tournament will receive Rs 646,600 while runner-up will get Rs 446,600. Third position holder will bag Rs 250,600 from the total prize money of Rs 4,000,000.
"Surya Nepal is proud to be partnering with Nepal PGA and we have been supporting the tour in a big way," said Buddha Singh. Surya Nepal has been sponsoring NPGA Tour.
"We had 11 events and Rs 7.6 million prize money last year. We will be increasing the number of events and prize money in the upcoming season," said Deepak Acharya, secretary of NPGA.
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