Tournament: Delhi Challenge
Venue: Classic Golf & Country Club, Gurugram, Haryana, India
Hashtag: #DelhiChallenge
Delhi Challenge preview
Alfie Plant is targeting a third Challenge Tour victory this week when he tees it up in the Delhi Challenge at Classic Golf & Country Club.
The Englishman arrives in Delhi for the first of back-to-back Challenge Tour events co-sanctioned with the Tata Steel Professional Golf Tour of India, and is looking to build momentum following an encouraging start to the year in South Africa.
The 31-year-old was in contention heading into the weekend of the Bain’s Whisky Cape Town Open before eventually finishing in a share of 31st, and the two-time Challenge Tour winner admits there is no time like the present to add a third title to his resume.
“It was my first time in India last year so I was really excited to come back, and it’s nice to be back out in the sun,” he said. “I love trying all of the different food, everyone is very friendly and it’s just a nice place to visit.
“A win would be great and it would be a very fast start to the season for me. I’d be up there in the Road to Mallorca Rankings, and a win secures my card for next year, so I feel like from that point you can relax a little bit more and just focus on good results.”
Plant graduated to the Challenge Tour from the Euro Pro Tour in 2019 after a stellar amateur career that saw him win the Silver Medal at The Open in 2017, and is hoping that this will be the year he can earn promotion to the DP World Tour.
“I think every season is really important but I’ve been out on the Challenge Tour for a few years now so I feel like they’re getting more important as the years go on,” he added. “Early in the season is very important.
“It’s always nice to start the season strong. When you get into Europe, if you can already have points on the board, you can start to feel at home.
“The course this week is nice, the greens are very quick and quite slopy. I wouldn’t say it’s a big hitters course, but I wouldn’t say it’s a short course either. I think it’s a nice length and there’s a bit of run on the fairways, so hopefully it suits my game.”
Plant is part of a strong field in Delhi that includes Road to Mallorca Number One Mikael Lindberg, current PGTI Order of Merit leader Manu Gandas and four-time DP World Tour winner David Horsey.
Play gets under way on Thursday at 6:50am local time, with plant teeing off alongside Gandas and Frenchman Martin Couvra at 12:35pm.
