A different week on the DP World Tour. A week of contrasts. The Hero Indian Open is always a very special stop on the calendar and, especially, since it is held at the DLF Golf & Country Club, a course located next to the airport of New Delhi, surrounded by large hotels and with an owner of difficult comparison.
Undoubtedly, the course is the star of the week. It has a peculiar design, very moved greens, more than curious unevenness, some blind shot, trees that get in the line of fire… It’s something like an amusement park, although with an honour roll presentation. It is not easy to find throughout the year on the European circuit a course in better conditions.
Each year has its own peculiarities. This week, for example, the tournament referee team has decided to introduce a curious local rule that has to do with the abundant fauna that proliferates in the DLF. The course is full of peacocks and dogs that roam freely as if it were their garden. In reality, in a way it is. As is logical, the animals are not very clear about where they can step and where they cannot and more than once they have left their trail in the bunkers, the most delicate area for golf.
For this reason, this year it will be allowed to relieve oneself in the sand traps if the ball falls in a peacock or dog footprint. Remember that it is a drop without penalty, that is, you have to drop, not place the ball. It is possible that some player prefers to play from the footprint, if it is not very badly placed, than to risk dropping and the ball can be somewhat settled. The relief will only be allowed if the ball is in the footprint, not in the case that it is the player’s stance that is on it.
One of the big factors this week is going to be the heat. Meteorologists estimate that temperatures of 36 and 37 degrees Celsius can be reached. Serious stuff. Short trousers to the song. For this reason, several points have been established on the course with buggies that will transport the players from the green to the next tee. However, the big novelty, rarely seen in a professional tournament, is that there will be buggies intended to take the caddies from the 17th hole street to the green, a huge climb that among some is known as the Tourmalet. It was the tournament’s own doctor who advised this measure to avoid scares. The buggies are for the caddies, to avoid the overexertion of having to climb with the bags, although the players will not be penalised if they also get on the carts.
Finally, there are some exits that have been complicated a bit more by the presence of tree branches that get into the line of fire and therefore narrow the route and, above all, the vision. From the European circuit, the owner of the course has been urged to carry out pruning work to eliminate these branches, but he has refused. Thus, the exits of holes 4, 7, 9 (you can’t even see the green) or 14 will be narrower and more complicated in this edition.
