Opening Doorz

By Our Sports Correspondent | Opening Doorz Editorial | May 07, 2018

The Indian edition of the world’s largest golf tournament series—the Audi quattro Cup recently concluded the seventh leg of its 11th season at the Willingdon Sports Club in Mumbai. In the qualifying round hosted by Audi Mumbai West & Audi Thane, Dr. Prakash Doshi and Abhiram Sheth booked their place in the India finals after finishing top with 63 points. The duo of Ashish Agarwal and Nikhil Bardia took the first runners-up spot while the Sunil Bhatia Alpana Shah combination took the third place on a count back of nine holes after being tied at 62 points.

Sharad Dalal won the ‘Closest-to-the-Pin’ contest and Khushal Thackersey took home the ‘Longest Drive’ award as part of the skills competitions held alongside the main event.

“Customer engagement is our key focus area and the Audi quattro Cup provides a perfect platform to stay connected with the Audi fans and customers in India. Audi has been committed to the sport of golf, which stands for precision and technique and truly embodies Audi’s philosophy of ‘Vorsprung durch Technik’ (Advancement through Technology) for more than two-and-a-half decades. The Audi quattro Cup over the last 10 years in India has become a great platform for young-minded, successful entrepreneurs and professionals to not only enjoy competitive golf but to also network with each other. This year we move into the second decade of celebrating the growing fascination for the amateur golf sporting events in India,” said Rahil Ansari, Head Audi India.

Dr. Doshi who has been a keen golfer participated in this tournament ‘by invitation’. “On an average 50-60 players participate in each city. There are different groups with different handicaps. There is also something called the ‘Hidden Hole’ concept,” said Dr. Doshi who will now take part in the All-India level. Throwing light on the ‘Hidden Hole’ concept, Dr. Doshi said, “Hidden holes are picked up randomly by the match referee prior to the start of the match. No one knows about them till match is over, not even the referee. The idea is even if you have fared badly on these holes, and if your overall performance is good on other holes, then you may still win and qualify.”

Globally, the Audi quattro Cup started way back in 1992 and will celebrate its 28th anniversary this year. Another notable highlight of the Audi quattro Cup is that it is always held at one of the famous courses in the world, for example—the Belfry in England, Fancourt in South Africa, K Club in Ireland, Mission Hills in China, the Earth Course at Jumeirah Golf Estates in Dubai, Ocean Course at Cabo del Sol in Mexico and the Real Club de Golf El Prat in Barcelona. This year too, in keeping with that format, the International final will be held in Kitzbühel, Austria.

The worldwide tournament series has become one of the most celebrated amateur golf tournaments in the world bringing together over 100,000 golfers from 48 countries in 730 tournaments.

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