Deepraj Chetiya Lifts Ametuer Golf Championship Title

Lalit Verma wins The Sentinel award

From Our Correspondent

DIGBOI, Feb 19 :  The 39th edition of All Assam Amateur Golf Tourment which commenced on 17th last at the lush green and historic Oil Town of Digboi Golf Course concluded here after an interesting episode  of golfing in a   befitting manner.  The winner of this edition of AAAIGC was Deepraj Chetiya of Margherita while the runners up was Zakhir Hussain of  ogaon. Kyra Pao of Shillong was the winner  in the ladies catagory while C.Sailaja of Shillong  was the runners up.

Zakhir Hussain  who took the lead on day 1 turned out with not so good golfing today paved the way for defending Champion  Chetiya with a superb round of 1 over par 72 and filly lifted the laurels today. In a dramatic turn of event after completion of 18 hole today (36 hole for the completion) both were tied at 9 over par 144 and Chetiya had to makeat a par at the play off hole to beat his nearest rival.

The winner prizes were given away by  S Mahopatra, the Director  (Exploration )Oil India Limited,  who was the chief guest on the prize distribution ceremony held at the Club premises along with other digtaries of Indian Oil and  Tea Companies including Sanjay Bhatra the GM Macleod Russel, BP Sarma RCE Oil, Vivek Seth and Sidhariptaha Chaliha the President and Secretery UAGA in the presence of invitees.

With a record entry of around 200  golfers from Assam, other NE states, different parts of the country, this is the most awaited Golf tourment on the golfing calendar of Upper Assam Golf Tourment.

Kayra Pao of Shillong playing under 0-36 emerged as the winner after stealing Indain Corbon for the best Gross over 2 days while C Sailaja stoleIndian Airlines trophy for runners-up in best Gross over 2 days. Sabee Chowdhury of Indian Oil C .was awarded the  Castrol Cup for  Runners Up in Best Nett over 2 days. Similarly, showcasing his magical performances and working entirely onthe golfing package, Sunda Pandey in the male segment under category19-30 Handicap swept the Warren Cup and adjudged the best Gross followed by Dr PC Goswami of Digboi who had to remain content with CMHO Cup for being the Runners Up in the row.

Meanwhile, in the 10-18 Handicap catagory, Lalit Verma swept the Dhunseri Cup for being the best gross over 2 days while Dr Mukul Dutta was the runners up.

Special mention may be made of  Verma- a silver medalist in Asian Squash Championship at Karachi in Pakisthan (1981) and winner in Assam Lawn Tennis Championship at Tezpur in 1971 who was also awarded The Sentinel trophy for being the Runners Up in the  best Stableford 36 Holes with C Sailija being the winner in the row. Verma was also adorned adequately with the crown for being the best  Sixty Plus Golfer. NG Deb the recipient of Kuku Cup for best Bogey 36 Holes was followed by Dr Subha Deka the runners up in the row.

Meanwhile, in the skill competition carried out on the day 1 , Dipu Dutta of Biswath Club won the nearest to pin athole 2, while PC Sonowal of Dibrugarh showed off wonderfully inStaright drive in hole 5. Similarly, Neeraj  Agarwal made hisway thoroughly in the Longest Drive among the gents on whole 6 whileKaira Pao of Shillong stole the moment in Longest Drive among theladies in whole 5.However, S galia Marghertita swept the nearest to Pin title ship onthe day 2 of the skill competition at hole 2 while Sandip Deb ofDigboi maintained his top share in Straight Drive at hole 5. MPChaliha of Zaloni in Duliajan took away the title ship in Longest Drive among the gents while Ruksha Khan of Dibrugarh sweept theLongest Drive award among the ladies category.

However, Nearest to Pin was award was given away to D Thakuriya and Sukdhakar Mahapatra won the straight Drive award  while Karan Jaiswal conquared the longest drive prize in the gents catagory.

Mention may be made of The Sentinel Group who was the media partner with the Organising Commitee and  along with the AOD Digboi and Macleod Russels as the sponsors and instituted a winner cup and a trophy into the tourment here during the prize distribution ceremony. The Sentinel Trophy which has been dedicated in the memory of Late Hari Prasad Rajkhewa was given away by Ruksha Khan, a social worker cum golfer of Dibrugarh.