Srinagar, Aug 4 (UNI) Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Tuesday said the DP World Professional Golf Tour of India (PGTI) tournament at the Royal Springs Golf Course (RSGC) marked an important milestone in putting Kashmir, particularly the Srinagar course, “back on India’s golf map”.
He said golf tourism was an important component of the government’s overall tourism promotion strategy and expressed hope that the DP World PGTI would become an annual fixture.
The Chief Minister described the golf tournament as an important milestone.
“This year we have seen even without active promotion of golf tourism, we have seen the beginnings of what we actually want, which is people is flying into Srinagar for a long weekend of golf…. And this tournament is an important milestone in putting Kashmir and particularly RSGC back on India’s golf map. We have more than 100 professional golfers who have come as part of the DP World PGTI.We have more than 10 overseas entries as well,” Omar told reporters in Srinagar after inaugurating the J&K Open 2026 on Tuesday. Omar also unveiled the trophy.
The four-day DP World PGTI tournament features a strong field of leading Indian professionals, including Saptak Talwar, Veer Ahlawat, Om Prakash Chouhan, Manu Gandas, defending champion Shaurya Bhattacharya and Angad Cheema, among others.
The tournament also carries a prize purse of Rs 1 crore, double the Rs 50 lakh offered in the previous edition.
The Chief Minister said the government’s endeavour was to make the tournament an annual event rather than a one-off affair.
“There has been a long gap between the previous such effort and this tournament. So this is the beginning. From here we hope to scale up both the prize money as well as the participation and ensure that it is a regular feature of the calendar for at least the next five years,” he said.
On promoting local golfers, Omar said the government wanted to provide greater exposure to young talent through tournaments and proposed setting up a golf academy.
“We want to start a golf academy here, so that we can groom young golfers at a very young age, so that they can represent India at a national level,” he said.
He said local amateurs were already getting opportunities to play alongside foreign professionals through Pro-Am tournaments, while local competitions were also being organised.
Asked whether the abrogation of Article 370 had contributed to the revival of golf tourism, Omar rejected the suggestion that such tournaments were a new phenomenon.
“We organised such tournaments before 2014 as well. And on a large scale,” he said, recalling that before the onset of militancy in the 1980s, Jammu and Kashmir had hosted some of the country’s biggest golf tournaments.
On concerns that golf courses could become loss-making government assets, Omar said their value should not be measured solely in terms of direct profits.
“Golf course will not be a profit centre in itself. But in terms of promotion, there is no competition for it,” he said.
He argued that golfers visiting J&K contributed to the wider tourism economy by using taxis, staying in houseboats, eating at local establishments, visiting tourist attractions and purchasing handicrafts.
“So in the end, there is only profit and no loss,” Omar said.
The Chief Minister also highlighted the importance of sporting events in enhancing J&K’s visibility as a tourism destination, saying the government wanted continuity rather than isolated events.
“When you bring such a large number of professional golfers to come here and play, they don’t play for one day. They play for four days,” he said.
He added that the presence of professional golfers, high profile sponsors and media coverage could remind people across the country that Kashmir was also a golf destination.
“Our endeavour is not for a one-off tournament. Our endeavour is that this should be part of the calendar of golf tournaments in the country,” Omar said.
“Not one-off events. Whether it’s the marathon in Kashmir, the half-marathon in Jammu, the PGTI World Golf Tournament, similar endeavours in other sports. The idea is that you have continuity so that people build it into their calendar and make it a part of their visit,” he said.
