Sherpa wins Turkish Airlines Golf Cup

Babu Sherpa won the 7th Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup at Gokarna Forest Resort on 11 May and will represent Kathmandu in the Grand Finale in Antalya, Turkey in November.

Sherpa (middle in photo, below) won the tournament on the count back system after being tied at 42 points with Ola Tenzing, 10 handicap Sherpa scored 23 on the back nine compared to 18 of Tenzing. The 15 handicap Tenzing scored 18 points on the back nine to finish runner-up in the tournament out of 102 amateur players from clubs all over Nepal.

Photo: TURKISH AIRLINES

The Kathmandu event was the 19th of 103 tournaments in this year’s tournament which is sponsored by Turkish Airlines in 76 countries around the world. Winners from all over the world will play in the Grand Finals and  the Turkish Airlines Open pro-am where previously winners have teed it up alongside the likes of Tiger Woods and Rory McIlroy.

The Nearest the Pin competition was won by Mithun Rai in the mens, and Rekha Ghimire from women. Tashi Tsering won the lowest gross score with a score of -2. Tashi Tshiring won the best gross award and also won a special trophy kept in the memory of late. Ang Tshiring Sherpa. Tashi scored 38 gross points for the win in the gross category.

“We warmly thank all of our guests who made the Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup here in Kathmandu a huge success,” said Abdullah Tuncer Kececi, General Manager for Turkish Airlines Nepal (at right in photo, above). “The tournament puts Kathmandu on the international golf map, and shows that Nepal is not just about mountains.”

All Turkish Airlines World Golf Cup finalists will fly to Turkey in the luxury of Turkish Airlines’ Business Class. Events such as the Turkish Airlines Open and TAWGC have made Turkish Airlines’ support essential to Antalya being recognized as an international premium destination for golfers with outstanding facilities.

British PGA Professional and Director of Golf based in Istanbul, Andrew McNabola says: “Gokarna is a world-class court, challenging because of its long and narrow fairways but spectacular because of the forest and wildlife.”

The Golf Cup event in Gokarna this year selected the bet participants from membership clubs all over Nepal including the Nepal Army Golf Club, Pokhara and Dharan.

“We wanted to treat this like a Nepal qualifier, and tried to be inclusive by including players from across Nepal, and also to include more women,” said Deepak Acharya of Gokarna Forest Resort and one of the organisers.

Pemba N Sherpa finished second runner-up on the count back with 41 points. Rajat Rana and Lt. Gen. KNS Thapa also scored 41 points, on the count back, Pemba and Rajat had 19 each on the back nine but Gen Thapa scored 17, on the last six holes scored Pemba scored 14 against 13 of Rajat to secure third place.

Mithun Rai was the closest to the pin among men, his tee shot rested two feet and 5 feet one inch from the pin and Rekha Ghimire got the closest to the pin among ladies after hitting a shot about 10 feet  on the tenth hole.

Photo: FRANK KNIPSCHILD

Added Kececi of Turkish Airlines: “The Turkish Airlines Golf Cup is was not just a global golf tournament with an event in Kathmandu, but a shout-out to the world that Nepal is a golfing destination.”

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