Historic course, mythical course, although it’s true, perhaps not so well known. The Challenge Tour stops this week at the Royal Calcutta Golf Club, the oldest course in the world outside of Great Britain. It was founded in 1829, and received the Royal title 81 years after its creation, following the visit of King George V and Queen Mary in 1911. A walking gem that hosts the Kolkata Challenge that starts tomorrow. Be careful where you step, you are touching a piece of golf history.
“Fairway”, “fairway”, “fairway” is the answer from all the players when you ask them possible keys to keep in mind this week. It is a very wooded setting with a very high and complicated bermuda rough. Nobody wants to find themselves in the situation of having to fight with the depths of those roughs. In addition, it has rained heavily in the last 48 hours and the grass off the fairway is expected to be especially hard. On this course there is a big difference between being on the fairway or not. The players are very clear about it and it will be preferable not to make as many meters from the tee as to be focused on the fairway. Another test will be the greens which are small but very undulating and composed of the aforementioned bermuda grass.
Royal Calcutta Golf Club is a 6611 meter course, par 72 and composed of only two par 3 and two par 5. The climate, much more humid, has nothing to do with what was experienced a few days ago in Delhi. By the way, last year, in a tournament organized by the Indian circuit on this same course, it was won with a score of six under par. We will see if those numbers are maintained this week, what is clear is that it is a real challenge that awaits the 156 players who will be part of the game from tomorrow.
The centenary course makes its debut this week on the Challenge Tour and will feature the presence of seven Spaniards. Last Sunday the chance for a great result in the Delhi Challenge slipped away and Víctor Pastor, Joel Moscatel and Lucas Vacarisas will seek to remove that bitter taste from the end of the Delhi Challenge. Javi Sainz wants to continue gaining confidence after adding a few days ago his first points of the season. Borja Virto, Alejandro Cañizares and Quim Vidal will fight to avoid leaving this mini tour of two tournaments in India with a zero in the bag.
The soldier Parry arrives in Calcutta with the lead of the Road to Mallorca in his hands after his return to the winners’ circle fourteen years later. He will seek to extend his love affair with India and take a swipe at the classification with his second consecutive victory. Mikael Lindberg will try to regain his place at the top of the classification. Of the rest of the players, it stands out if the French Martin Couvra will achieve his first victory of the year after three top 10 or if his young compatriot Guillamoundeguy maintains the pace of a few days ago.
The tournament will feature the presence of an Indian golf hero like S.S.P Chawrasia, four-time champion on the DP World Tour. Precisely all his victories on the circuit have been on home soil and he will fight to be the first local player of the season to win a title on the Challenge.
