Karan, Rakesh grab final qualification spots from MercedesTrophy Gurugram leg

Golfers Karan Khaitan and Rakesh Anand qualified for the National Finals of MercedesTrophy on the third day of the Gurugram leg qualifier here Thursday.

Karan with Handicap Category A (0-17) and Rakesh with Handicap Category B (18-24) clinched the final two qualification spots available from the leg by carding a nett. score of 73 and 72.8 respectively.

The MercedesTrophy 2019 has so far seen 30 qualifiers, who will be competing in the National Finals to be played at the Oxford Golf Resort in Pune from March 27 to 29.

Prominent winners include Shivraj Karayat, who won the Ballantine's Long Drive Challenge with a mammoth drive of 314 yards.

Shekhar Agarwal won the Standard Chartered Closest to Pin contest on hole no. 17 by landing the ball at 3 ft. from the pin.

In the Mercedes Benz Closest to Pin in Two Shots, Sant Dhiman landed the ball at 4 ft. from the pin to win the contest on hole no. 12. Narender Pal won the Mercedes-Benz Straightest Drive contest on hole no.7 by landing the ball at 1 ft. from the line.

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 around 100 golfers competed on Day 3 of MercedesTrophy Gurugram leg. The MercedesTrophy will now move to Noida for the next qualification leg where another four qualification spots will be on offer.

The Noida leg will tee off on 27th Feb 2019 at Jaypee Greens Golf Resort.