Srinagar, Aug 7 (JKNS): Advisor to Jammu and Kashmir Chief Minister Nasir Aslam Wani has said the government will work towards making Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) tournaments an annual event in Kashmir, while announcing plans to establish a world-class golf academy and upgrade Royal Springs Golf Course to professional standards.
Addressing the closing ceremony of the J&K Open Golf event, as per news agency JKNS, Wani said hosting the PGTI tournament in Kashmir was a matter of great honour and demonstrated the quality and potential of the region’s golf courses.
“In my opinion, PGTI is like BCCI Cricket. So, we also want to have PGTI’s upper-segment golf tournaments here,” Wani said.
He announced that PGTI and GT World tournaments would be held annually in Kashmir, with the first week of August being proposed as a fixed period for the PGTI event.
“You must put it in your calendar that PGTI will be held here every year in the first week of August,” he said.
Wani said the government would work to enhance the prize money for professional golfers and attract sponsors to strengthen the tournament and promote golf in Jammu and Kashmir.
Highlighting the need to develop golf at the grassroots level, he said a golf academy would be established in Kashmir to provide training opportunities to students from schools, colleges and other institutions.
“This golf academy will definitely open here before the next tournament. This will be a world-class academy,” Wani said.
He said the government would also upgrade the Royal Springs Golf Course to meet the standards required for professional golfing.
“We will definitely upgrade our course to the standard that is required for professional golfing,” he said.
Wani further urged the organisers to include Jammu and Kashmir among the venues for one of the major PGTI tournaments next year, saying the move would help position the region as a major golfing destination.
“We can place Jammu and Kashmir as the golfing capital of India and Royal Springs as the crown of the golfing circuit,” he said. (JKNS)
