It is a popular saying that, “There's no game like golf: you go out with three friends, play eighteen holes, and return with three enemies.” As far as Golf is concerned, the pleasure of playing the 18 holes far outstrips the “displeasure” of beating the other three in the group! Golf, as a sport, has captured the fancy of teeming millions – men and women, the amateur, the professional, the one with a handicap of 25 or a handicap of 9, the businessman, the bureaucrat and the executive. Truth is, a good round of golf is always a great round of golf.
In keeping with this idea, The Bengal Chamber of Commerce and Industry, organized on Friday, 28th November 2014 and Saturday, 29th November 2014, the fifth edition of the Annual IDEAL - Bengal Chamber Golf Trophy in association with National Insurance Company Limited & Andrew Yule & Company Limited & Medica Group of Hospitals, a golfing extravaganza for corporates, at the Tollygunge Club, Kolkata. We had a very simple objective – providing corporate leaders an opportunity to showcase their skills with the club, meet new players and develop new friendships. Many a golfer prefers a golf cart to a caddy because the cart cannot count, criticize, or laugh. On the contrary, our event was an excellent opportunity for all the keen amateurs to not worry about scores, but just have a lot of fun.
Close to 320 golfers participated. Leading city-based corporates participated in the event which was played in a Texas Scramble Format. This year we had the privilege of having Olympian (shooter) Mr. Joydeep Karmakar and the actor Mr. Parambrata Chatterjee as the Chief Guests of the Tournament. The overall winners of the “IDEAL - Bengal Chamber Golf Trophy” were PERNOD TEAM comprising of Mr. Sudipta Das, Mr. Tripurari, A, Mr. H P Surana and Mr. Ashish Bhansal followed by the Runners’ Up Team - INDIAN RAIL & DEFENCE, comprising of Mr. Amjad Khan, Col S. Shukla, Wig Cdr J S Negi and Col Dogra. The Corporate winner of the The Bengal Chamber trophy in association with Andrew Yule was team IDEAL comprising of Mr. Jitendra Khaitan, Mr. Samir Khaitan, Mr. Prawal Tulsyan and Mr. Pradeep Goenka followed by the Runners’ Up Team MCLEOD RUSSEL comprising of Mr. Aditya Khaitan, Mr. K K Baheti, Mr. N Betreen and Mr. Sunny Uthup. The Longest Drive Ballantine Salver was won by Mr. Karanbir Chowdhury. The second prize was won by Mr. Mayukh Ray and the 3rd Prize was won by Mr. Sudipta Das. Dr Alok Roy, President, The Bengal Chamber; Mr. Kallol Datta, Immediate Past President, The Bengal Chamber; Mr P Roy, Director General, The Bengal Chamber; Mr. Sunil Munshi, Co-Chairperson, Golf Organizing Committee of the Chamber, and Mr. Anil Mukerji, CEO, The Tollygunge Club presented the awards.