City Golfers Shashikanth V and Noaman Razack Qualifies for National Finals of MercedesTrophy

Bengaluru, January 16, 2019: City golfers David Dsouza with a best gross of 73, and Former Athlete Ashwini Nachappa, won the trophy at the opening day of Bengaluru leg of Mercedes Trophy. Noaman Razack (CAT B) with a gross score of 92 and Shashikanth V (CAT A) with gross score of 82 qualified from the first day of the Bengaluru qualification leg of MercedesTrophy 2019. Noaman carded a Nett. Score of 72.8 to grab the qualifications spot. The MercedesTrophy has so far seen 4 qualifiers including today who will be competing in the National Finals to be play at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune scheduled between 27th and 29th March 2019.

Commenting after the win, Noaman Razack said, ‘’I am really glad that I could give a good performance on the day. I am absolutely thrilled with my win today and I hope to do something at the national finals’’

The best Gross Winner of the day was David Dsouza with an excellent round of 73 and there were a host of other prizes on offer to be won on the day.

Prominent winners included Darshan L who won the Ballantine’s Long Drive Challenge with a mammoth drive of 295 yards. Kaushik Marappa won the Mercedes-Benz Closest to Pin contest by landing the ball at 7ft from the pin. In the Mercedes – Benz Closest to Pin in Two Shots, Sagar Muthappa landed the ball at 7 ft. from the pin to win. Vivek Gupta who landed the ball at 1 ft. from the line won the Mercedes-Benz Straightest Drive contest.

The format of play was Double Peoria. This unique format of adjusting handicaps of players levels the playing field enabling golfers to have a greater chance of qualifying for the National Finals.

A total of 108 golfers participated on the opening day in Bengaluru and will see another 108 golfers compete for four remaining qualification spots over the next two days.

Mercedes-Benz’s global charity partner– Laureus Sport for Good Foundation is also associated with the tournament to raise funds for its programmes in India. While participants can donate online or on-ground at the tournament venue, Mercedes-Benz India will donate an equal amount to match the funds raised from participants.

Globally, MercedesTrophy witnesses participation of approximately 60,000 golfers from across 60 countries battling it out for the top prize, making it one of the world’s largest and most coveted sporting events.

The 19th edition of the MercedesTrophy will travel to eight more cities after Bengaluru including Mumbai, Ahmedabad, Kolkata, Hyderabad, Delhi, Chandigarh, Jaipur and Lucknow before returning to Pune for the National Final.

Three winners of the National Finals will then compete against those from tournaments played in 60 countries all over the world in the 30th edition of the MercedesTrophy World Final to be held in Stuttgart, Germany. Mercedes-Benz is also providing an opportunity for beginners to learn golf through their Golf Clinic program.