In a first, 88 golfers from South India to play on Kashmir greens

Tourism deptt working hard to make J&K golf capital of country: Sarmad Hafeez

Srinagar, Jul 04 (KNO): To further promote the golfing circuit in Jammu & Kashmir; a golf tournament is being organized here in which for the first time golfers from extreme South India are playing.

Beginning tomorrow, the tournament is going to see participation of 88 golfers from the Addicts Golfing Society of Southern India besides their local counterparts.

The Addicts Golfing Society of Southern India is one of the country's old golf clubs established in 1940s and presently it has a membership of 1300 drawn from all walks of life. The Golf tournament is being played at Royal Springs Golf Course, Srinagar and Lidder Valley Golf Course, Pahalgam from July 05.

The Department of Tourism has made all requisite arrangements to make the tournament a success.

In this regard, Secretary, Tourism, Sarmad Hafeez today reviewed the arrangements for the tournament in a meeting of officers of concerned agencies.

Addressing the meeting, Sarmad Hafeez said the Department is working hard to popularise golf tourism and make Jammu & Kashmir as the golfing capital of the country. He said J&K has huge potential in golf promotion and the Department is actively working towards realising the same.

The Tourism Secretary said the Department in future is planning high profile golf events to attract domestic and international tourists and golf enthusiasts from all over the world. He further said that Jammu and Kashmir has the strength to provide round the year tourism and with Golf becoming a growing sport worldwide, there are immense opportunities for the growth of Golf Tourism in Jammu & Kashmir.

It may be recalled here, that the Golfing circuit of Jammu & Kashmir comprising the iconic Royal Springs Golf Course, Pahalgam Golf Course, historic courses like the Gulmarg Golf Course and Kashmir Golf Course besides Jammu-Tawi Golf Course provides a rich and varied world class experience to visiting golfers which is unparalleled in rest of the country—(KNO)