Written by: Khushi Gupta

The Indian Open being the longest running annual international event in any sport in India, which was titled for sponsorship reasons as the Hero Indian Open since 2011, is the national open golf championship of India, and is every time organised by the Indian Golf Union. Though it had been founded in the year 1964, it was added to the Asia Golf Circuit schedule in 1970. In 1998 it became an event on the rival Omega Tour (known as the Asian Tour since 2004). Since 2015, it has also been co-sanctioned by the European Tour.

The Indian Open

2022 will mark the 15th consecutive year that Hero MotoCorp – the world’s largest manufacturer of motorcycles and scooters, and one of the biggest corporate promoters of multi-disciplinary sports around the world – is supporting the tournament. The event, which is owned and promoted by the Indian Golf Union (IGU), was first played in 1964. The last Indian to win it was SSP Chawrasia in 2017. 

From 1964 until 2000, the tournament was held exclusively at either Delhi Golf Club or Royal Calcutta Golf Club. Since then it has been held at the Classic Golf Resort in 2000 continuing in the same place in 2001, Karnataka Golf Association in 2012, and DLF Golf and Country Club in 2009 and continued in the same till 2017; all other editions of the Hero Indian Open have after then been held at Delhi Golf Club which continued to do so.

The event’s inaugural was held in February 1964 where Peter Thomson beat Ralph Moffitt by four strokes becoming the first one to become the winner of the tournament and thereafter continued to be the inspiration behind the event. The DP World Tour that was formerly known as the European Tour had previously announced that the Hero Indian Open would take place in February from the 17th to the 20th at the Delhi Golf Club but even though the Tour’s website would now continue to place the event on the same date, things are quite different than they seem to be. Now owing to the travel restrictions brought on by the Covid 19 pandemic, the event is now to be postponed yet again to end of March till the 3rd of April. This will also be the first time since 2015 that the Indian Open is not co-sanctioned by the DP World Tour and the Asian Tour and both the tours are organising their own separate independent events in India.

The event has now been cancelled for two consecutive years due to Covid and the amount of waves that were coming one after the other due to which the years 2020 and 2021 faced a setback when it came to continuing the legacy of the Hero Indian Open. It seems now that the tournament cannot find a steady ground when it comes to hosting it due to such severe conditions and just as soon as the dates of the tournament seem to come closer, it is just then that the tournament is then shifted and therefore taken further away.

Indian Open 2019

It would have been more convenient for the event to be held in February due to the pleasant weather that taken over the country making the feel of it all much better. The timing would also have made it easier for European players who are currently in the Middle East to travel to India. The probable new dates that go towards the end of March means that the temperatures could hit 40 degrees Celsius, and with no other European Tour event immediately before or after in Asia, means Europeans are less likely to make the trip. Even though all this is just said, an official announcement is expected soon. Asian Tour is playing its US$500,000 The DGC Open from March 24-27, which is quickly followed by a US$75,000 Asian Development Tour event at Classic Golf & CC from March 29 – April 1, 2022.

Not only is the tournament a much awaited one when it comes to golf fans or even the players, but also is essential for India’s very own Golf community.